Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/collectionofcollOOhallrich 


■^■^ff^-  ,-'>v<**.«iw^^  ^i?/  "  9  o y 


COLLECTION 


>  •    •  •  •    • 


COLLEGE 


AND  CJJSTOMS. 


"  Multa  renascentur  quae  jam  cecidere,  cadentquo 
QusBjiunc  sunt  in  honore,  vocabula." 

"  Notandi  sunt  tibi  mores." 

HoR.  Ars.  Poet. 


[^  .■s:.^a,i'ri 


dk. 


CAMBRIDGE: 

PUBLISHED    BY   JOHN   BARTLETT. 

1851. 


H-\3 


Watered  according  to  Act  of  C!ongress,  in  the  year  1851,  by 
; !  ;  *^  *  ;    '. ' '     •       >     John    B  a  r  t  l  e  t  t  , 
ihihd  dlbrk's  OMee  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


U 


c  ambridoe: 

METCALF      AND      COMPANY, 
PRINTERS   TO  THE  UNIVERSITY. 


vH 


PREFACE. 


The  Editor  has  an  indistinct  recollection  of  a  sheet 
of  foolscap  paper,  on  one  side  of  which  was  written, 
perhaps  a  year  and  a  half  ago,  a  list  of  twenty  or  thirty 
coUege  phrases,  followed  by  the  euphonious  titles  of 
"  Yale  CoU.,"  "  Harvard  Coll."  Next  he  calls  to  mind 
two  blue-covered  books,  turned  from  their  original  use, 
as  receptacles  of  Latin  and  Greek  exercises,  contain- 
ing explanations  of  these  and  many  other  phrases. 
His  friends  heard  that  he  was  hunting  up  odd  words 
and  queer  customs,  and  dubbed  him  "  Antiquarian," 
but  in  a  kindly  manner,  spared  his  feelings,  and  did 
not  put  the  vinegar  "  old  "  before  it. 

Two  and  one  half  quires  of  paper  were  in  time 
covered  with  a  strange  medley,  an  olla-podrida  of  stu- 
dent peculiarities.  Thus  did  he  amuse  himself  in  his 
leisure  hours,  something  like  one  who,  as  Dryden  says, 
"  is  for  raking  in  Chaucer  for  antiquated  words."  By 
and  by  he  heard  a  wish  here  and  a  wish  there,  whether 
real  or  otherwise  he  does  not  know,  which  said  some- 
thing about  "  type,"  "  press,"  and  used  other  cabalistic 
words,  such  as  "  copy,"  "  devil,"  etc.  Then  there  was 
a  gathering  of  papers,  a  transcribing  of  passages  from 


IV  PREFACE. 

letters,  an  arranging  in  alphabetical  order,  a  correcting 
of  proofs,  and  the  work  was  done,  —  poorly  it  may  be, 
but  with  good  intent. 

Some  things  will  be  found  in  the  following  pages 
which  are  neither  words  nor  customs  peculiar  to  col- 
leges, and  yet  they  have  been  inserted,  because  it  was 
thought  they  would  serve  to  explain  the  character  of 
student  life,  and  afford  a  little  amusement  to  the  stu- 
dent himself.  Society  histories  have  been  omitted, 
with  the  exception  of  an  account  of  the  oldest  afiiliated 
literary  society  in  the  United  States. 

To  those  who  have  aided  in  the  compilation  of  this 
work,  the  editor  returns  his  warmest  thanks.  He  has 
received  the  assistance  of  many,  whose  names  he  would 
here  and  in  all  places  esteem  it  an  honor  openly  to 
acknowledge,  were  he  not  forbidden  so  to  do  by  the  fact 
that  he  is  himself  anonymous.  Aware  that  there  is 
information  still  to  be  collected,  in  reference  to  the  sub- 
jects here  treated,  he  would  deem  it  a  favor  if  he  could 
receive  through  the  medium  of  his  publisher  such  mor- 
sels as  are  yet  ungathered. 

Should  one  pleasant  thought  arise  within  the  breast 
of  any  Alumnus,  as  a  long-forgotten  but  once  familiar 
word  stares  him  in  the  face,  like  an  old  and  early 
friend;  or  should  one  who  is  still  guarded  by  his 
Alma  Mater  be  led  to  a  more  summer-like  acquaint- 
ance with  those  who  have  in  years  past  roved,  as  he 
now  roves,  through  classic  shades  and  honored  halls, 
the  labors  of  their  friend,  the  editor,  will  have  been 
crowned  with  complete  success. 

Cambeidqe,  July  4th,  1851. 


COLLECTION 


OF 


COLLEGE   WORDS   AA^D   CUSTOMS, 


A.  B.  An  abbreviation  for  Artium  Baccalaureus,  Bachelor  of 
Arts.  The  first  degree  taken  by  students  at  a  college  or 
university.     It  is  sometimes  written  B.  A, 

Of  the  various  etymologies  ascribed  to  the  term  Bachelor^ 
"  the  true  one,  and  the  most  flattering,"  says  the  Gradus  ad 
Cantabrigiam,  "  seems  to  be  hacca  Taurus.  Those  who  either 
are,  or  expect  to  be,  honored  with  the  title  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts,  will  hear  with  exultation,  that  they  are  then  '  con- 
siderec^  as  the  budding  flowers  of  the  University ;  as  the 
small  pillula,  or  hacca,  of  the  laurel  indicates  the  flowering 
of  that  tree,  which  is  so  generally  used  in  the  crowns  of 
those,  who  have  deserved  well,  both  of  the  military  states, 
and  of  the  republic  of  learning.'  —  Carter'^s  History  of 
Cambridge  [Eng.],  1753." 

See  Bachelor. 

ABSIT.  Latin  ;  literally,  let  him  he  ahsent ;  leave  of  ab- 
sence from  commons,  given  to  a  student  in  the  English 
universities.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantah, 

ACADEMIAN.     A  member  of  an  academy ;  a  student  in  a 
university  or  college. 
1 


»  COLLEGE    WORDS 

ACADEMIC.     A  student  in  a  college  or  university. 

A  young  academic  coming  into  the  country  immediately  after  this 
great  competition,  &c.  —  Forhy's  Vocabulary,  under  Pin-bashet. 

A  young  academic  shall  dwell  upon  a  journal  that  treats  of  trade, 
and  be  lavish  in  the  praise  of  the  author  ;  while  persons  skilled  in 
those  subjects  hear  the  tattle  with  contempt.  —  Watts^s  Improve- 
ment of  the  Mind. 

ACADEMICALS.  In  the  English  universities,  the  dress  pe- 
culiar to  the  students  and  officers. 

I  must  insist  on  your  ^oing  to  your  College  and  putting  on  your 
academicals.  —^TJieEto(iian,  Vol.  IJ.  p.  382. 

'r  yjie  Proctor  .maXes, a  claim  of  65.  8<^.  on  every  undergraduate 
whom  he  finds  inermen,  or  without  his  academicals. —  Gradus  ad 
C^7A^0^r,  p.'8.  ' 

If  you  say  you  are  going  for  a  walk,  or  if  it  appears  likely,  from 
the  time  and  place,  you  are  allowed  to  pass,  otherwise  you  may  be 
sent  back  to  college  to  put  on  your  academicals. —  Collegian's 
Guide,  p.  177. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT.  At  Harvard  College,  every  stu- 
dent admitted  upon  examination,  after  giving  a  bond  for 
the  payment  of  all  College  dues,  according  to  the  established 
laws  and  customs,  is  required  to  sign  the  following  acknowl- 
edgment^ as  it  is  called  :  —  "I  acknowledge  that,  having 
been  admitted  to  the  University  at  Cambridge,  I  am  subject 
to  its  laws."  Thereupon  he  receives  from  the  President  a 
copy  of  the  laws  which  he  has  promised  to  obey.  —  Laws 
Univ.  at  Cam.,  Mass.,  1848,  p.  13.  ♦ 

ACT.  In  English  universities,  a  thesis  maintained  in  public 
by  a  candidate  for  a  degree,  or  to  show  the  proficiency  of  a 
student.  —  Webster. 

The  student  proposes  certain  questions  to  the  presiding 
officer  of  the  schools,  who  then  nominates  other  students  to 
oppose  him.  The  discussion  is  syllogistical  and  in  Latin, 
and  terminates  by  the  presiding  officer  questioning  the  re- 
spondent, or  person  who  is  said  to  keep  the  act,  and  his 
opponents,  and  dismissing  them  with  some  remarks  upon 
their  respective  merits.  —  Brande. 

The  word  was  formerly  used  in  Harvard  College.     In  the 


AND    CUSTOMS. 


"  Orders  of  the  Overseers,"  May  6th,  1650,  is  the  follow- 
ing :  —  "  Such  that  expect  to  proceed  Masters  of  Arts  [are 

.ordered]  to  exhibit  their  synopsis  of  acts  required  by  the 
laws  of  the  College." —  Quincy'^s  Hist,  Harv.  Univ.^YoX, 

.  I.  p.  518. 

Nine  Bachelors  commenced  at  Cambridge  ;  they  were  young 
men  of  good  hope,  and  performed  their  acts,  so  as  to  give  good 
proof  of  their  proficiency  in  the  tongues  and  arts. —  Winthrop^s 
Journal,  hy  Mr.  Savage,  Vol.  I.  p.  87. 

The  students  of  the  first  classis  that  have  beene  these  foure  yeeres 
trained  up  in  University  learning  (for  their  ripening  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  tongues,  and  arts)  and  are  approved  for  their  manners, 
as  they  have  kepi  their  publick  Acts  in  former  yeares,  ourselves  be- 
ing present  at  them  ;  so  have  they  lately  kept  two  solemn  Acts  for 
their  Commencement.  —  New  Englandh  First  Fruits,  in  Mass,  Hist, 
Coll.,  Vol.  I.  p.  245. 

But  in  the  succeeding  acts the  Latin  syllogism  seemed  to 

give  the  most  content.  —  Harvard  Register,  1827-28,  p.  305. 

2.  The  close  of  the  session  at  Oxford,  when  Masters  and 
Doctors  complete  their  degrees,  whence  the  Act  Term^  or 
that  term  in  which  the  act  falls.  It  is  always  held  with 
great  solemnity.  At  Cambridge,  and  in  American  colleges, 
it  is  called  Commencement.     In  this  sense  Mather  uses  it. 

They  that  were  to  proceed  Bachelors,  held  their  Act  publickly  in 
Cambridge.  —  Mather's  Magnalia,  B.  4,  pp.  127,  128. 

At  some  times  in  the  universities  of  England  they  have  no  pub- 
lic acts,  but  give  degrees  privately  and  silently.  —  Letter  of  Increase 
Mather,  in  App.  to  Pres,  Woolsey's  Hist.  Disc,  p.  87. 

ADJOURN.  At  Bowdoin  College,  adjourns  are  the  occa- 
sional holidays  given  when  a  Professor  unexpectedly  absents 
himself  from  recitation. 

ADMISSION.  The  act  of  admitting  a  person  as  a  member  of 
a  college  or  university.  The  requirements  for  admission 
are  usually  a  good  moral  character  on  the  part  of  the  can- 
didate, and  that  he  shall  be  able  to  pass  a  satisfactory  exam- 
ination in  certain  studies.  In  some  colleges,  students  are 
not  allowed  to  enter  until  they  are  of  a  specified  age. — 
Latvs  Univ.  at  Cam.^  Mass.^  1848,  p.  12.  Laios  Yale  Coll.., 
1837,  p.  8. 


4  COLLEGE   WORDS 

The  requisitions  for  entrance  at  Harvard  College  in  1650 
are  given  in  the  following  extract.  "  When  any  scholar 
is  able  to  read  TuUy,  or  such  like  classical  Latin  author, 
extempore^  and  make  and  speak  true  Latin  in  verse  and 
prose  suo  {ut  aiunt)  Marte^  and  decline  perfectly  the  para- 
digms of  nouns  and  verbs  in  the  Greek  tongue,  then  may  he 
be  admitted  into  the  College,  nor  shall  any  claim  admission 
before  such  qualifications." — Quincy'^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ., 
Vol.  I.  p.  515. 

ADMITTATUR.  Latin;  literally,  let  him  he  admitted.  In 
the  older  American  colleges,  the  certificate  of  admission 
given  to  a  student  upon  entering  was  called  an  admittatur, 
from  the  word  with  which  it  began.  At  Harvard  no  student 
was  allowed  to  occupy  a  room  in  the  College,  to  receive  the 
instruction  there  given,  or  was  considered  a  member  thereof, 
until  he  had  been  admitted  according  to  this  form.  Laws 
Harv.  Coll.^  1798.  Referring  to  Yale  College,  President 
Woolsey  remarks  on  this  point :  "  The  earliest  known  laws 
of  the  College  belong  to  the  years  1720  and  1726,  and  are 
in  manuscript ;  which  is  explained  by  the  custom  that  every 
Freshman,  on  his  admission,  was  required  to  write  off  a 
copy  of  them  for  himself,  to  which  the  admittatur  of  the 
officers  was  subscribed."  —  Hist.  Disc,  before  Grad,  Yale 
Coll.,  1850,  p.  45. 

He  travels  wearily  over  in  visions  the  term  he  is  to  wait  for  his 
initiation  into  college  ways  and  his  admittatur.  —  Harvard  Reg- 
ister, p.  377. 

I  received  my  admittatur  and  returned  home,  to  pass  the  vacation 
and  procure  the  college  uniform.  —  New  England  Magazine,  Vol. 
in.  p.  238. 

It  was  not  till  six  months  of  further  trial,  that  we  received  our 
admittatur,  so  called,  and  became  matriculated.  —  A  Tour  through 
College,  1832,  p.  13. 

ADMITTO  TE  AD  GRADUM.  I  admit  you  to  a  degree  ; 
the  first  words  in  the  formula  used  in  conferring  the  honors 
of  college. 

The  scholar-dress  that  once  arrayed  him, 
The  charm  Admitto  te  ad  gradum, 


AND    CUSTOMS.  O 

With  touch  of  parchment  can  refine, 
And  make  the  veriest  coxcomb  shine, 
Confer  the  gift  of  tongues  at  once. 
And  fill  with  sense  the  vacant  dunce. 
Trumbull's  Progress  of  Dulness,  ed.  1794,  Exeter,  p.  12. 

ADMONISH.  In  collegiate  affairs,  to  reprove  a  member  of  a 
college  for  a  fault,  either  publicly  or  privately  ;  the  first  step 
of  college  discipline.  It  is  followed  by  of  or  against;  as,  to 
admonish  of  a  fault  committed,  or  against  committing  a  fault. 

ADMONITION.  Private  or  public  reproof;  the  first  step  of 
college  discipline.  In  Harvard  College,  both  private  and 
public  admonition  subject  the  offender  to  deductions  from 
his  rank,  and  the  latter  is  accompanied  in  most  cases  with 
official  notice  to  his  parents  or  guardian.  —  See  Laws  Univ. 
at  Cam.,  Mass,,  1848,  p.  21.  Laws  Yale  Coll,  1837,  p.  23. 
Mr.  Flynt,  for  many  years  a  tutor  in  Harvard  College, 
thus  records  an  instance  of  college  punishment  for  stealing 
poultry:  —  "November  4th,  1717.  Three  scholars  were 
publicly  admonished  for  thievery,  and  one  degraded  below 
five  in  his  class,  because  he  had  been  before  publicly  ad- 
monished for  card-playing.  They  were  ordered  by  the 
President  into  the  middle  of  the  Hall  (while  two  others, 
concealers  of  the  theft,  were  ordered  to  stand  up  in  their 
places,  and  spoken  to  there).  The  crime  they  were  charged 
with  was  first  declared,  and  then  laid  open  as  against  the  law 
of  God  and  the  House,  and  they  were  admonished  to  con- 
sider the  nature  and  tendency  of  it,  with  its  aggravations ; 
and  all,  with  them,  were  warned  to  take  heed  and  regulate 
themselves,  so  that  they  might  not  be  in  danger  of  so  doing 
for  the  future  ;  and  those  who  consented  to  the  theft  were 
admonished  to  beware,  lest  God  tear  them  in  pieces,  accord- 
ing to  the  text.  They  were  then  fined,  and  ordered  to  make 
restitution  twofold  for  each  theft."  —  Quincy^s  Hist.  Harv, 
Univ.,  Vol.  I.  p.  443. 

ADOPTED   SON.     Said  of  a  student  in  reference  to  the  col- 
lege of  which  he  is  or  was  a  member,  the  college  being 
styled  his  alma  mater. 
1* 


b  COLLEGE   WORDS 

There  is  something  in  the  affection  of  our  Alma  Mater  which 
changes  the  nature  of  her  adopted  sons ;  and  let  them  come  from 
wherever  they  may,  she  soon  alters  them  and  makes  it  evident  that 
they  belong  to  the  same  brood.  —  Harvard  Register^  p.  377. 

ADVANCE.  The  lesson  which  a  student  prepares  for  the 
first  time  is  called  the  advance^  in  contradistinction  to  the 
review. 

Even  to  save  him  from  perdition 
He  cannot  get  "  the  advance^'*  forgets  "  the  review.''^ 

Childe  Harvard,  p.  13. 

^GROTAL.  Latin,  ccgrotiis,  sick.  A  certificate  of  illness. 
Used  in  the  Univ.  of  Cam.,  Eng. 

A  lucky  thought ;  he  will  get  an  ^^  cegrotal,^''  or  medical  cer- 
tificate of  illness.  —  Household  Words,  Vol.  II.  p.  162. 

^GROTAT.  Latin;  literally,  he  is  sick.  In  the  English 
universities,  a  certificate  from  a  doctor  or  surgeon,  to  the 
effect  that  a  student  has  been  prevented  by  illness  from  at- 
tending to  his  college  duties,  "  though,  commonly,"  says  the 
Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam,  "  the  real  complaint  is  much  more 
serious ;  viz.  indisposition  of  the  mind !  cBgrotat  animo 
magis  quam  corpore."  This  state  is  technically  called 
cegritude^  and  the  person  thus  affected  is  said  to  be  ceger. 
—  The  Etonian,  Vol.  II.  pp.  386,  387. 

Mr.  John  Trumbull  well  describes  this  state  of  indisposi- 
tion in  his  Progress  of  Dulness  :  — 

*'  Then  every  book,  which  ought  to  please, 

Stirs  up  the  seeds  of  dire  disease ; 

Greek  spoils  his  eyes,  the  print  's  so  fine, 

Grown  dim  with  study,  and  with  wine  ; 

Of  Tully's  Latin  much  afraid, 

Each  page  he  calls  the  doctor's  aid  ; 

While  geometry,  with  lines  so  crooked, 

Sprains  all  his  wits  to  overlook  it. 

His  sickness  puts  on  every  name, 

Its  cause  and  uses  still  the  same  ; 

'T  is  toothache,  colic,  gout,  or  stone, 

With  phases  various  as  the  moon, 

But  tho'  thro'  all  the  body  spread, 

Still  makes  its  cap'tal  seat,  the  head. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  7 

In  all  diseases,  't  is  expected, 

The  weakest  parts  be  most  infected." 

Ed.  1794,  Part  I.  p.  8. 

iEGROTAT  DEGREE.  One  who  is  sick  or  so  indisposed 
that  he  cannot  attend  the  Senate-House  examination,  nor 
consequently  acquire  any  honor,  takes  what  is  termed  an 
■jEgrotat  degree.  —  Alma  Mater,  Vol.  11.  p.  105. 

ALMA  MATER,  pL  Almje  Matres.  Fostering  mother;  a 
college  or  seminary  where  one  is  educated.  The  title  was 
originally  given  to  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  by  such  as  had 
received  their  education  in  either  university. 

It  must  give  pleasure  to  the  alumni  of  the  College  to  hear  of  his 
good  name,  as  he  [Benjamin  Woodbridge]  was  the  eldest  son  of 
our  alma  mater.  —  Peirce'^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  App.,  p.  57. 

I  see  the  truths  I  have  uttered,  in  relation  to  our  Alnm  Matres, 
assented  to  by  sundry  of  their  children.  —  Terrce-Filius ,  Oxford, 
p.  41. 

ALUMNI,  SOCIETY  OF.  An  association  composed  of  the 
graduates  of  a  particular  college.  The  object  of  societies  of 
this  nature  is  stated  in  the  following  extract  from  President 
Hopkins's  Address  before  the  Society  of  Alumni  of  Williams 
College,  Aug.  16,  1843^  "  So  far  as  I  know,  the  Society  of 
the  Ajumni  of  Williams  College  was  the  first  association  of 
the  kind  in  this  country,  certainly  the  first  which  acted  effi- 
ciently, and  called  forth  literary  addresses.  It  was  formed 
September  5th,  1821,  and  the  preamble  to  the  constitution 
then  adopted  was  as  follows  r  '  For  the  promotion  of  liter- 
ature and  good  fellowship  among  ourselves,  and  the  better 
to  advance  the  reputation  and  interests  of  our  Alma  Mater, 
we  the  subscribers,  graduates  of  Williams  College,  form  our- 
selves into  a  Society.'  The  first  president  was  Dr.  Asa 
Burbank.  The  first  orator  elected  was  the  Hon.  Elijah 
Hunt  Mills,  a  distinguished  Senator  of  the  United  States. 
That  appointment  was  not  fulfilled.  The  first  oration  was 
delivered  in  1823,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Woodbridge,  now  of 
Hadley,  and  was  well  worthy  of  the  occasion  ;  and  since 
that  time  the  annual  oration  before  the  Alumni  has  seldom 
failed Since  this  Society  was  formed,  the  example 


COLLEGE  WORDS 

has  been  followed  in  other  institutions,  and  bids  fair  to  ex- 
tend to  them  all.  Last  year,  for  the  first  time,  the  voice  of 
an  Alumnus  orator  was  heard  at  Harvard  and  at  Yale  ;  and 
one  of  these  associations,  I  know,  sprung  directly  from  ours. 
It  is  but  three  years  since  a  venerable  man  attended  the 
meeting  of  our  Alumni,  one  of  those  that  have  been  so  full 
of  interest,  and  he  said  he  should  go  directly  home  and 
have  such  an  association  formed  at  the  Commencement  of 
his  Alma  Mater,  then  about  to  occur.  He  did  so.  That 
association  was  formed,  and  the  last  year  the  voice  of  one 
of  the  first  scholars  and  jurists  in  the  nation  was  heard  be- 
fore them.  The  present  year  the  Alumni  of  Dartmouth 
were  addressed  for  the  first  time,  and  the  doctrine  of  Prog- 
ress was  illustrated  by  the  distinguished  speaker  in  more 
senses  than  one.*  Who  can  tell  how  great  the  influence 
of  such  associations  may  become  in  cherishing  kind  feeling, 
in  fostering  literature,  in  calling  out  talent,  in  leading  men 
to  act,  not  selfishly,  but  more  efficiently  for  the  general 
cause  through  particular  institutions  ? "  —  Pres.  Hopkins's 
Miscellaneous  Essays  and  Discourses^  pp.  275  -  277. 

To  the  same  effect  also,  Mr.  Chief  Justice  Story,  who,  in 
his  Discourse  before  the  Society  of  the  Alumni  of  Harvard 
University,  Aug.  23,  1842,  says  :  "  We  meet  to  celebrate 
the  first  anniversary  of  the  society  of  all  the  Alumni  of  Har- 
vard. We  meet  without  any  distinction  of  sect  or  party,  or 
of  rank  or  profession,  in  church  or  in  state,  in  literature  or 

in  science Our  fellowship  is  designed  to  be,  —  as  it 

should  be,  —  of  the  most  liberal  and  comprehensive  char- 
acter, conceived  in  the  spirit  of  catholic  benevolence,  asking 
no  creed  but  the  love  of  letters,  seeking  no  end  but  the  en- 
couragement of  learning,  and  imposing  no  conditions,  which 
may  lead  to  jealousy  or  ambitious  strife.  In  short,  we  meet 
for  peace  and  for  union  ;  to  devote  one  day  in  the  year  to 
academical  intercourse  and  the  amenities  of  scholars."  — 
P-4. 

An  Alumni  society  was  formed  at  Columbia  College  in 

*  Hon.  Levi  Woodbury,  whose  subject  was  "  Progress." 


AND    CUSTOMS.  y 

the  year  1829,  and  at  Rutgers  College  in  1837.  There  are 
also  societies  of  this  nature  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey, 
Princeton ;  University  of  Virginia,  Charlottesville  ;  and  at 
Columbian  College,  Washington. 

ALUMNUS,  pi.  Alumni.     Latin,  from   aZo,  to   nourish.     A 
pupil ;  one  educated  at  a  seminary  or  college  is  called  an 
*    alumnus  of  that  institutioji. 

A.  M.  An  abbreviation  for  Artium  Magister^  Master  of  Arts. 
The  second  degree  given  by  universities  and  colleges.  In 
America,  this  degree  is  conferred,  without  examination,  on 
Bachelors  of  three  years'  standing.  At  Harvard,  this  degree 
was  formerly  conferred  only  upon  examination,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  following  extract.  "  Every  schollar  that  giveth 
up  in  writing  a  System,  or  Synopsis,  or  summe  of  Logick, 
naturall  and  morall  Philosophy,  Arithmetick,  Geometry  and 
Astronomy  :  And  is  ready  to  defend  his  Theses  or  posi- 
tions :  Withall  skilled  in  the  originalls  as  above-said ;  And 
of  godly  life  and  conversation  ;  And  so  approved  by  the 
Overseers  and  Master  of  the  Colledge,  at  any  publique  Act, 
is  Ifit  to  be  dignified  with  his  2d  degree."  —  New  England'^s 
First  Fruits^  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.^  Vol.  L  p.  246. 

Until  the  year  1792,  it  was  customary  for  those  who  ap- 
plied for  the  degree  of  A.  M.  to  defend  what  were  called 
Masterh  questions ;  after  this  time  an  oration  was  substi- 
tuted in  place  of  these,  which  continued  until  1844,  when 
for  the  first  time  there  were  no  Master's  exercises.  The 
degree  is  now  given  to  any  graduate  of  three  or  more  years' 
standing,  on  the  payment  of  a  certain  sum  of  money. 

The  degree  is  also  presented  by  special  vote  to  individ- 
uals wholly  unconnected  with  any  college,  but  who  are  dis- 
tinguished for  their  literary  attainments.  In  this  case,  where 
the  honor  is  given,  no  fee  is  required. 

ANALYSIS.  In  the  following  passage,  the  word  analysis  is 
used  as  a  verb ;  the  meaning  being  directly  derived  from 
that  of  the  noun  of  the  same  orthography. 

If  any  resident  Bachelor,  Senior,  or  Junior  Sophister,  shall  neg- 
lect to  analysis  in  his  course,  he  shall  be  punished  not  exceeding 
ten  shillings. — Peirce^s  Hist,  Harv.  Univ.,  App.,  p.  129. 


10  COLLEGE    WORDS 

APOSTLES.  At  Cambridge,  England,  the  twelve  last  on  the 
list  of  Bachelors  of  Arts  ;  a  degree  lower  than  the  ol  ttoWoL 
"  Scape-goats  of  literature,  who  have  at  length  scrambled 
through  the  pales  and  discipline  of  the  Senate-House,  with- 
out being  plucked,  and  miraculously  obtained  the  title  of 
A.  B."  —  Gradus  ad  Cantah. 

At  Columbian  College,  D.  C,  the  members  of  the  Faculty- 
are  called  after  the  names  of  the  Apostles, 

APPLICANT.  A  diligent  student.  "  This  word,"  says  Mr. 
Pickering,  in  his  Vocabulary,  "  has  been  much  used  at  our 
colleges.  The  English  have  the  verb  to  apply,  but  the  noun 
applicant,  in  this  sense,  does  not  appear  to  be  in  use  among 
them.  The  only  dictionary  in  which  I  have  found  it  with 
this  meaning  is  Entick's,  in  which  it  is  given  under  the 
word  applier.  Mr.  Todd  has  the  term  applicant,  but  it  is 
only  in  the  sense  of  '  he  who  applies  for  any  thing.'  An 
American  reviewer,  in  his  remarks  on  Mr.  Webster's  Dic- 
tionary, takes  notice  of  the  word,  observing,  that  it  '  is  a 
mean  word ' ;  and  then  adds,  that  '  Mr.  Webster  has  not 
explained  it  in  the  most  common  sense,  a  hard  student.''  — 
Monthly  Anthology,  Vol.  VII.  p.  263.  A  correspondent 
observes :  '  The  utmost  that  can  be  said  of  this  word 
among  the  English  is,  that  perhaps  it  is  occasionally  used  in 
conversation  ;  at  least,  to  signify  one  who  asks  (or  applies) 
for  something.'  "  At  present  the  word  applicant  is  never 
used  in  the  sense  of  a  diligent  student,  the  common  signifi- 
cation being  that  given  by  Mr.  Webster,  "  One  who  applies; 
one  who  makes  request ;  a  petitioner." 

APPOINTMENT.  In  many  American  colleges,  students  to 
whom  are  assigned  a  part  in  the  exercises  of  an  exhibition 
or  commencement,  are  said  to  receive  an  appointment. 
Appointments  are  given  as  a  reward  for  superiority  in  schol- 
arship. 

If  e'er  ye  would  take  an  "  appointment^^''  young  man, 
Beware  o'  the  ^'  blade  "  and  "  fine  fellow,"  young  man  ! 

Yale  Lit,  Mag.,  Vol.  XV.  p.  210. 
See  Junior  Appointments. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  ll 

APPROBATE.  To  express  approbation  of;  to  manifest  a 
liking,  or  degree  of  satisfaction.  —  Webster. 

The  cause  of  this  battle  every  man  did  allow  and  approbate,  — 
Hall,  Henry  Vll.y  Richardson^ s  Diet, 

"  This  word,"  says  Mr.  Pickering,  "  was  formerly  much 
used  at  our  colleges  instead  of  the  old  English  verb  approve. 
The  students  used  to  speak  of  having  their  performances 
approbated  by  the  instructors.  It  is  also  now  in  common 
use  with  our  clergy  as  a  sort  of  technical  term,  to  denote  a 
person  who  is  licensed  to  preach  ;  they  would  say,  such  a 
one  is  approbated^  that  is,  licensed  to  preach.  It  is  also 
common  in  New  England  to  say  of  a  person  who  is  licensed 
by  the  county  courts  to  sell  spirituous  liquors,  or  to  keep  a 
public  house,  that  he  is  approbated  ;  and  the  term  is  adopted 
in  the  law  of  Massachusetts  on  this  subject."  The  word  is 
obsolete  in  England,  is  never  used  at  our  colleges,  and  is 
very  seldom  heard  in  the  other  senses  given  above. 

By  the  twelfth  statute,  a  student  incurs  no  penalty  by  declaim- 
ing or  attempting  to  declaim  without  having  his  piece  previously 
approbated.  —  MS,  Note  to  Laws  of  Harvard  College,  1798. 

ASSES'  BRIDGE.  The  fifth  proposition  of  the  first  book  of 
Euclid  is  called  the  Asses'*  Bridge,  or  rather  "  Pons  Asino- 
rum,"  from  the  difficulty  with  which  many  get  over  it. 

The  Asses^  Bridge  in  Euclid  is  not  more  difficult  to  be  got  over, 
nor  the  logarithms  of  Napier  so  hard  to  be  unravelled,  as  many  of 
Hoyle's  Cases  and  Propositions.  —  The  Connoisseur,  No.  LX. 

After  Mr.  Brow^n  had  passed  us  over  the  ^^Asses^  Bridge,^^ 
without  any  serious  accident,  and  conducted  us  a  few  steps  further 
into  the  first  book,  he  dismissed  us  with  many  compliments.  — 
Alma  Mater,  Vol.  I.  p.  126. 

I  don't  believe  he  passed  the  Pons  Asinorum  without  many  a 
halt  and  a  stumble.  —  Ibid,,  Vol.  I.  p.  146. 

ASSESSOR.  In  the  English  universities,  an  oflicer  appointed 
to  assist  the  Vice-Chancellor  in  his  court.  —  Cam,  Cal, 

AUCTION.  At  Harvard  College,  it  was  until  within  a  few 
years  customary  for  the  members  of  the  Senior  Class,  pre- 
vious to  leaving  college,  to  bring  together  in  some  conven- 


12  COLLEGE    WORDS 

ient  room  all  the  books,  furniture,  and  movables  of  any  kind 
which  they  wished  to  dispose  of,  and  put  them  up  at  public 
auction.  Every  thing  offered  was  either  sold,  or,  if  no  bid- 
ders could  be  obtained,  given  away. 

AUDIT.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Master  and  Fellows  to  examine  or  audit  the  Col- 
lege accounts.  This  is  succeeded  by  a  feast,  on  which 
occasion  is  broached  the  very  best  ale,  for  which  reason  ale 
of  this  character  is  called  "  audit  ale."  —  Grad.  ah  Cantab. 

This  use  of  the  word  thirst,  made  me  drink  an  extra  bumper  of 
"  Audit  "  that  very  day  at  dinner.  —  Alma  Mater,  Vol.  I.  p.  3. 

After  a  few  draughts  of  the  Audit,  the  company  disperse.  — 
lUd.,  Vol.  I.  p.  161. 

AUTHORITY.  "This  word,"  says  Mr.  Pickering,  in  his 
Vocabulary,  "  is  used  in  some  of  the  States,  in  speaking 
collectively  of  the  Professors,  &c.,  of  our  colleges,  to  whom 
the  government  of  these  institutions  is  intrusted." 

Every  Freshman  shall  be  obliged  to  do  any  proper  errand  or  mes- 
sage for  the  Authority  of  the  College.  —  Laws  Middlebury  Coll, , 
1804,  p.  6. 

AUTOGRAPH  BOOK.  It  is  customary  at  Yale  College  for 
each  member  of  the  Senior  Class,  before  the  close  of  his 
collegiate  life,  to  obtain,  in  a  book  prepared  for  that  purpose, 
the  signatures  of  the  President,  Professors,  Tutors,  and  of 
all  his  classmates,  with  any  thing  else  which  they  may 
choose  to  insert.  Opposite  the  autographs  of  the  college 
officers  are  placed  engravings  of  them,  so  far  as  they  are 
obtainable ;  and  the  whole,  bound  according  to  the  fancy  of 
each,  forms  a  most  valuable  collection  of  agreeable  me- 
mentos. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  13 


B. 

BACCALAUEEATE.  The  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  ;  the 
first  or  lowest  degree.  In  American  colleges,  this  degree  is 
conferred  in  course  on  each  member  of  the  Senior  Class  in 
good  standing.  In  Oxford  and  Cambridge  it  is  attainable  in 
two  different  ways ;  —  1.  By  examination,  to  which  those  stu- 
dents alone  are  admissible  who  have  pursued  the  prescribed 
course  of  study  for  the  space  of  three  years.  2.  By  extra- 
ordinary diploma,  granted  to  individuals  wholly  unconnected 
with  the  University.  The  former  class  are  styled  Bac- 
calaurei  Formati,  the  latter  Baccalaurei  Currentes.  In 
France,  the  degree  of  Baccalaureat  (Baccalaureus  Litera- 
rum)  is  conferred  indiscriminately  upon  such  natives  or  for- 
eigners as,  after  a  strict  examination  in  the  classics,  mathe- 
matics, and  philosophy,  are  declared  to  be  qualified.  In  the 
German  universities,  the  title  "  Doctor  Philosophiae  "  has 
long  been  substituted  for  Baccalaureus  Artium  or  Literarum. 
In  the  Middle  Ages,  the  term  Baccalaureus  was  applied  to 
an  inferior  order  of  knights,  who  came  into  the  field  unat- 
tended by  vassals ;  from  them  it  was  transferred  to  the 
lowest  class  of  ecclesiastics ;  and  thence  again,  by  Pope 
Gregory  the  Ninth,  to  the  universities.  In  reference  td  the 
derivation  of  this  word,  the  military  classes  maintain  that  it 
is  either  derived  from  the  haculus  or  staff  with  which  knights 
were  usually  invested,  or  from  has  chevalier^  an  inferior 
kind  of  knight ;  the  literary  classes,  with  more  plausibility, 
perhaps,  trace  its  origin  to  the  custom  which  prevailed  uni- 
versally among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  which  was 
followed  even  in  Italy  till  the  thirteenth  century,  of  crowning 
distinguished  individuals  with  laurel ;  hence  the  recipient  of 
this  honor  was  styled  Baccalaureus,  quasi  haccis  laureis 
donatus.  —  Brande's  Dictionary, 

The    subjoined  passage,  although  it  may  not  place   the 
subject  in  any  clearer  light,  will  show  the  difference  of  opin- 
ion which  exists  in  reference  to  the  derivation  of  this  word. 
Speaking  of  the  exercises  of  Commencement  at  Cambridge, 
2 


14  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Mass.,  in  the  early  days  of  Harvard  College,  the  writer 
says :  "  But  the  main  exercises  were  disputations  upon  ques- 
tions, wherein  the  respondents  first  made  their  Theses :  For 
according  to  Vossius,  the  very  essence  of  the  Baccalaureat 
seems  to  lye  in  the  thing:  Baccalaureus  being  but  a  name 
corrupted  of  Batualius,  which  Batualius  (as  well  as  the 
French  Bataile  [Bataille])  comes  a  Batuendo,  a  business 
that  carries  beating  in  it :  So  that,  Batualii  fuerunt  vocati, 
quia  jam  quasi  hatuissent  cum  adversario,  ac  manus  conser- 
uissent ;  hoc  est,  publice  disputassent,  atque  ita  peritiae  suae 
specimen  dedissent."  —  Mather'' s  Magnalia^  B.  IV.  p.  128. 

The  Seniors  will  be  examined  for  the  Baccalaureate,  four  weeks 
before  Commencement,  by  a  committee,  in  connection  with  the 
Faculty.  -—  Cat,  Wesley  an  Univ.,  1849,  p.  22. 

BACHELOR.  A  person  who  has  taken  the  first  degree  in 
the  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  at  a  college  or  university. 
This  degree,  or  honor,  is  called  the  baccalaureate.  This 
title  is  given  also  to  such  as  take  the  first  degree  in  divinity, 
law,  or  physic,  in  certain  European  universities.  The  word 
appears  in  various  forms  in  different  languages.  The  fol- 
lowing are  taken  from  Wehster^s  Unabridged  Dictionary, 
"  French,  baclielier ;  Spajiish,  bachiller^  a  bachelor  of  arts 
and  a  babbler ;  Portuguese,  bacliarel,  id.,  and  bacello^  a  shoot 
or  twig  of  the  vine  ;  Italian,  baccelliere^  a  bachelor  of  arts  ; 
bacchio^  a  staff;  bachetta,  a  rod;  Latin,  baculus^  a  stick, 
that  is,  a  shoot ;  French,  bachelette^  a  damsel,  or  young 
woman  ;  Scotch,  baich,  a  child  ;  Welsh,  bacgen,  a  boy,  a 
child  ;  bacgenes,  a  young  girl,  from  Jac,  small.  This  word 
has  its  origin  in  the  name  of  a  child,  or  young  person  of 
either  sex,  whence  the  sense  of  babbling  in  the  Spanish. 
Or  both  senses  are  rather  from  shooting,  protruding." 

BACHELORSHIP.  The  state  of  one  who  has  taken  his  first 
degree  in  a  university  or  college.  —  Webster. 

BACK-LESSON.  A  lesson  which  has  not  been  learned  or 
recited  ;  a  lesson  which  has  been  omitted. 

In  a  moment  you  may  see  the  yard  covered  with  hurrying 
groups,  some  just  released  from  metaphysics  or  the  blackboard, 


AND    CUSTOMS.  15 

and  some  just  arisen  from  their  beds  where  they  have  indulged  in 
the  luxury  of  sleeping  over,  —  a  luxury,  however,  which  is  sadly 
diminished  by  the  anticipated  necessity  of  making  up  back-lessons.  — 
Harv.  Reg.,  p.  202. 

BARBER.  Ill  the  English  universities,  the  college  barber  is 
often  ennployed  by  the  students  to  write  out  or  translate  the 
impositions  incurred  by  thenn.  Those  who  by  this  means 
get  rid  of  their  impositions  are  said  to  harberize  them. 

So  bad  was  the  hand  which  poor  Jenkinson  wrote,  that  the  many 
impositions  which  he  incurred  would  have  kept  him  hard  at  work 
all  day  long,  so  he  harberized  them,  that  is,  handed  them  over  to 
the  college  barber,  who  had  always  some  poor  scholars  in  his  pay. 
This  practice  of  barberizing  is  not  uncommon  among  a  certain  class 
of  men. —  Collegian^ s  Guides  p.  155. 

BARNEY.  At  Harvard  College,  about  the  year  1810,  this 
word  was  used  to  designate  a  bad  recitation.  To  barney 
was  to  recite  badly. 

BATTEL.  To  stand  indebted  on  the  college  books  at  Ox- 
ford, for  provisions  and  drink  from  the  buttery. 

Eat  my  commons  with  a  good  stomach,  and  battled  with  discre- 
tion.—  Puritan,  Malone's  Suppl.  2,  p.  543. 

Cotgrave  says,  "  To  battle  (as  scholars  do  in  Oxford) 
etre  debteur  au  college  pour  ses  vivres."  He  adds,  "  Mot 
use  seulement  des  jeunes  ecoliers  de  I'universite  d'Oxford." 

2.  To  reside  at  the  university  ;  to  keep  terms.  —  Webster, 

BATTEL.     Provisions  taken  by  Oxford  students  from  the  but- 
tery, and  also  the  charges  thereon.  —  Webster, 
I  on  the  nail  my  Battels  paid, 
The  monster  turn'd  away  dismay'd. 

The  Student,  Vol.  I.  p.  115,  1750. 

BATTELER.  )    A  student  at  Oxford  who  stands  indebted,  in 
BATTLER.     )  the  college  books,  for   provisions   and  drink 
at  the  buttery.  —  Webster, 

Halliwell,  in  his  Diet.  Arch,  and  Prov.  Words,  says, 
"  The  term  is  used  in  contradistinction  to  gentleman  com- 
moner." In  Gent.  Mag.  1787,  p.  1146,  is  the  following  :  — 
"  There  was  formerly  at  Oxford  an  order  similar  to  the 
sizars  of  Cambridge,  called  battelers  {batteling  having  the 


16  COLLEGE   WORDS 

same  signification  as  sizing).  The  sizar  and  hatteler  were 
as  independent  as  any  other  members  of  the  college,  though 
of  an  inferior  order,  and  were  under  no  obligation  to  wait 
upon  any  body." 

2.  One  who  keeps  terms,  or  resides  at  the  University.  — 
Webster. 

BATTELING.  At  Oxford,  the  act  of  taking  provisions  from 
the  buttery.  Batteling  has  the  same  signification  as  Sizing 
at  the  University  of  Cambridge. — Ge7it.  Mog.,  1787,  p.  1146. 
Batteling  in  a  friencfs  name,  implies  eating  and  drinking 
at  his  expense.  When  a  person's  name  is  crossed  in  the 
buttery,  i.  e.  when  he  is  not  allowed  to  take  any  articles 
thence,  he  usually  comes  into  the  hall  and  battels  for  buttery 
supplies  in  a  friend's  name,  "  for,"  says  the  Collegian's 
Guide,  "every  man  can  'take  out'  an  extra  commons,  and 
some  colleges  two,  at  each  meal,  for  a  visitor:  and  thus,  un- 
der the  name  of  a  guest,  though  at  your  own  table,  you 
escape  part  of  the  punishment  of  being  crossed."  —  p.  158. 
2.  Spending  money. 

The  business  of  the  latter  was  to  call  us  of  a  morning,  to  dis- 
tribute among  us  our  hattlings,  or  pocket  money,  &c.  —  Dickens- s 
Household  Words,  Vol.  I.  p.  188. 

BAUM.  At  Hamilton  College,  to  fawn  upon ;  to  flatter ;  to 
court  the  favor  of  any  one. 

B.  C.  L.  Abbreviated  for  Baccalaureus  Civilis  Legis,  Bach- 
elor in  Civil  Law.  In  the  University  of  Oxford,  a  Bachelor 
in  Civil  Law  must  be  an  A.  M.  of  three  years  standing. 
The  exercises  necessary  to  the  degree  are  disputations  upon 
two  distinct  days  before  the  Professors  of  the  Faculty  of 
Law.     This  degree  is  not  conferred  in  America. 

B.  D.  An  abbreviation  for  Baccalaureus  Divinitatis,  Bach- 
elor in  Divinity.  In  both  the  English  Universities  a  B.  D. 
must  be  an  A.  M.  of  seven  years  standing.  The  exercises 
necessary  to  the  degree  are  at  Cambridge  one  act  after  the 
fourth  year,  two  opponencies,  a  clerum,  and  an  English 
sermon.  At  Oxford,  disputations  are  enjoined  upon  two 
distinct  days,  before  the  Professors  of  the  Faculty  of  Divini- 


AND   CUSTOMS.  17 

ty,  and  a  Latin  sermon  is  preached  before  the  Vice-Chan- 
cellor.  The  degree  of  Theologiee  Baccalaiireus  was  con- 
ferred at  Harvard  College  on  Mr.  Leverett,  afterwards 
President  of  that  institution,  in  1692,  and  on  Mr.  William 
Brattle  in  the  same  year,  the  only  instances,  it  is  believed,  in 
which  this  degree  has  been  given  in  America. 

BEADLE.  )      An  officer  in  a  university,  whose  chief  business 
BEDEL.      )  is  to  walk  with  a  mace,  before  the  masters,  in 
a  public  procession  ;  or,  as  in  America,  before  the  presi- 
dent, trustees,  faculty,  and  students  of  a  college,  in  a  pro- 
cession, at  public  commencements.  —  Webster, 

In  the  English  universities  there  are  two  classes  of 
Bedels,  called  the  Esquire  and  the  Yeoman  Bedel, 

Of  this  officer  as  connected  with  Yale  College,  President 
Woolsey  speaks  as  follows  :  —  "  The  beadle  or  his  substi- 
tute, the  vice-beadle  (for  the  sheriff  of  the  county  came  to 
be  invested  with  the  office),  was  the  master  of  processions, 
and  a  sort  of  gentleman-usher  to  execute  the  commands  of 
the  President.  He  was  a  younger  graduate  settled  at  or 
near  the  college.  There  is  on  record  a  diploma  of  Presi- 
dent Clap's,  investing  with  this  office  a  graduate  of  three 
years  standing,  and  conceding  to  him  '  omnia  jura  privilegia 
et  auctoritates  ad  Bedelli  officium,  secundum  collegiorum 
aut  universitatum  leges  et  consuetudines  usitatas ;  spec- 
tantia.'  The  office,  as  is  well  known,  still  exists  in  the 
English  institutions  of  learning,  whence  it  was  transferred 
first  to  Harvard  and  thence  to  this  institution."  —  Hist, 
Disc,  Aug.,  1850,  p.  43. 

In  an  account  of  a  Commencement  at  Williams  College, 
Sept.  8,  1795,  the  order  in  which  the  procession  was  formed 
was  as  follows: — "First,  the  scholars  of  the  academy; 
second,  students  of  college  ;  third,  the  sherifT  of  the  county 
acting  as  Bedellus,'^''  &c.  —  Federal  Orrery,  Sept.  28,  1795. 
The  Beadle,  by  order,  made  the  following  declaration.  —  Clap''s 
Hist,  Yale  Coll.,  1766,  p.  56. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Faculty  to  appoint  a  College  Beadle^ 
who  shall  direct  the  procession  on  Commencement  day,  and  pre- 
serve order  during  the  exhibitions.  —  Laws  Yale  Coll.,  1837,  p.  43. 
2* 


18  COLLEGE    WORDS 

BED-MAKER.  One  whose  occupation  is  to  make  beds,  and, 
as  in  colleges  and  universities,  to  take  care  of  the  students' 
rooms.     Used  both  in  the  United  States  and  England. 

I  asked  a  bed-maher  where  Mr. 's  chambers  were.  —  Gent, 

Mag.,  1795,  p.  118. 

T'  other  day  I  caught  my  bed-maker,  a  grave  old  matron,  poring 
very  seriously  over  a  folio  that  lay  open  upon  my  table.  I  ask'd 
her  what  she  was  reading  1  "  Lord  bless  you,  master,"  says  she, 
*' who  I  reading?  "  "I  never  could  read  in  my  life,  blessed  be 
God;  and  yet  I  loves  to  look  into  a  book  too." — The  Student, 
Vol.  I.  p.  55,  1750. 

BENE.  •  Latin,  well,  A  word  sometimes  attached  to  a  writ- 
ten college  exercise,  by  the  instructor,  as  a  mark  of  appro- 
bation. 

When  I  look  back  upon  my  college  life, 
And  think  that  I  one  starveling  bene  got. 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  IIL  p.  402. 

BENE  DISCESSIT.  Latin  ;  literally,  he  has  departed  hon- 
orably. This  phrase  is  used  in  the  English  universities  to 
signify  that  the  student  leaves  his  college  to  enter  another 
by  the  express  consent  and  approbation  of  the  Master  and 
Fellows.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab. 

Mr.  Pope  being  about  to  remove  from  Trinity  to  Emmanuel,  by 
Bene-Discessit,  was  desirous  of  taking  my  rooms.  —  Alma  Mater, 
Vol.  L  p.  167. 

BENEFICIARY.  One  who  receives  any  thing  as  a  gift,  or 
is  maintained  by  charity.  —  Blackstone. 

In  American  colleges,  students  who  are  supported  on  es- 
tablished foundations  are  called  beneficiaries. 

No  student  who  is  a  college  beneficiary  shall  remain  such  any 
longer  than  he  shall  continue  exemplary  for  sobriety,  diligence,  and 
orderly  conduct. — Laws  ofi  Univ,  at  Cam.,  Mass.,  1848,  p.  19. 

BEVER.  From  the  Italian  bevere^  to  drink.  An  intermedi- 
ate refreshment  between  breakfast  and  dinner.  —  Morison. 

At  Harvard  College,  dinner  was  formerly  the  only  meal 
which  was  regularly  taken  in  the  hall.  Instead  of  breakfast 
and  supper,  the  students  were  allowed  to  receive  a  bowl  of 
milk  or  chocolate,  with  a  piece  of  bread,  from  the  buttery 


AND    CUSTOMS.  19 

hatch,  at  morning  and  evening  ;  this  they  could  eat  in  the 
yard,  or  take  to  their  rooms  and  eat  there.  At  the  appointed 
hour  for  levers^  there  was  a  general  rush  for  the  buttery,  and 
if  the  walking  happened  to  be  bad,  or  if  it  was  winter,  many 
ludicrous  accidents  usually  occurred.  One  perhaps  would 
slip,  his  bowl  would  fly  this  way,  and  his  bread  that,  while 
he,  prostrate,  afforded  an  excellent  stumbling-block  to  those 
immediately  behind  him  ;  these,  falling  in  their  turn,  spatter- 
ing with  the  milk  themselves  and  all  near  them,  holding  per- 
haps their  spoons  aloft,  the  only  thing  saved  from  the  de- 
struction, would,  after  disentangling  themselves  from  the 
mass  of  legs,  arms,  etc.,  return  to  the  buttery,  and  order  a 
new  bowl,  to  be  charged  with  the  extras  at  the  close  of  the 
term. 

No  scholar  shall  be  absent  above  an  hour  at  morning  hever^  half 
an  hour  at  evening  hever,  &c. —  Quina/^s  Hist.  Harv,  Univ.,  Vol. 
I.  p.  517. 

The  butler  is  not  bound  to  stay  above  half  an  hour  at  bevers  in 
the  buttery  after  the  tolling  of  the  bell.  —  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.  p.  584. 

BEVER.     To  take  a  small  repast  between  meals.  —  Wallis. 

BIBLE  CLERK.  In  the  University  of.  Oxford,  the  hihle 
clerks  are  required  to  attend  the  service  of  the  chapel,  and 
to  deliver  in  a  list  of  the  absent  undergraduates  to  the  offi- 
cer appointed  to  enforce  the  discipline  of  the  institution. 
Their  duties  are  diflTerent  in  different  colleges.  —  Oxford 
Guide, 

In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  "  a  very  ancient 
scholarship,  so  called  because  the  student  who  was  promoted 
to  that  office  was  enjoined  to  read  the  Bible  at  meal  times." 

—  Gradus  ad  Cantab, 

BITCH.     At  Cambridge,  Eng.,  to  take  or  drink  a  dish  of  tea. 
I  followed,  and,  having  "  bitched  "  (that  is,  taken  a  dish  of  tea), 
arranged  my  books  and  boxes.  —  Alma  Mater,  Vol.  L  p.  30. 

I  dined,  wined,  or  bitched  with  a  Medallist  or  Senior  Wrangler. 

—  JW.,  Vol.  II.  p.  218. 

A  young  man,  who  performs  with  great  dexterity  the  honors  of 
the  tea-table,  is,  if  complimented  at  all,  said  to  be  "  an  excellent 
bitch.^'  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab,  p.  18. 


20  COLfJtGE   WORDS 

B.  L.     See  LL.  B. 

BLACK  BOOK.  In  the  English  universities,  a  gloomy  vol- 
ume containing  a  register  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 
At  the  University  of  Gottingen,  the  expulsion  of  students  is 
recorded  on  a  blackboard.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab, 

Sirrah,  I  '11  have  you^put  in  the  black  book,  rusticated,  expelled. 
—  Miller^ s  Humors  of  Oxford,  Act  II.  Sc.  I. 

All  had  reason  to  fear  that  their  names  were  down  in  the'  proc- 
tor's Wac^  book. —  Collegian'' s  Guide,  p.  277. 

So  irksome  and  borish  did  I  ever  find  this  early  rising,  spite  of 
the  health  it  promised,  that  I  was  constantly  in  the  black  book  of  the 
dean.  —  Alma  Mater,  Vol.  I.  p.  32. 

BLACK  RIDING.  At  the  College  of  South  Carolina,  it  has 
until  within  a  few  years  been  customary  for  the  students, 
disguised  and  painted  black,  to  ride  across  the  college-yard 
at  midnight,  on  horseback,  with  vociferations  and  the  sound 
of  horns.  Black  riding  is  recognized  by  the  laws  of  the 
college  as  a  very  high  offence,  punishable  with  expulsion. 

BLEACH.  At  Harvard  College,  he  was  formerly  said  to 
bleach  who  preferred  to  be  spiritually  rather  than  bodily 
present  at  morning  prayers. 

'T  is  sweet  Commencement  parts  to  reach, 
But,  O  !  H  is  doubly  sweet  to  bleach. 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  123. 

BLOOD.  At  some  of  the  Western  colleges,  this  word  signi- 
fies excellent ;  as  a  blood  recitation.  A  student  who  recites 
well  is  said  to  make  a  blood. 

BLOODY.  Formerly  a  college  term  for  daring,  rowdy,  im- 
pudent. 

Arriving  at  Lord  Bibo's  study, 
They  thought  they  'd  be  a  little  bloody  ; 
So,  wdth  a  bold,  presumptuous  look, 
An  honest  pinch  of  snuff  they  took. 

Rebelliad,  p.  44. 
They  roar'd  and  bawl'd,  and  were  so  bloody, 
As  to  besiege  Lord  Bibo's  study. 

Ihid.^  p.  76. 


AND   CUSTOilS.  21 

BLOW.  A  merry  frolic  with  drinking  ;  a  spree.  A  person 
intoxicated  is  said  to  be  Mown,  and  Mr.  Halliwell,  in  his 
Diet.  Arch,  and  Prov.  Words,  has  llowloll,  a  drunkard. 

This  word  was  formerly  used  by  students  to  designate 
their  frolics  and  social  gatherings  ;  at  present  it  is  not  much 
heard,  being  supplanted  by  the  more  common  word  spree^ 
tight,  &c. 

My  fellow-students  had  been  engaged  at  a  blow  till  the  stage- 
horn  had  summoned  them  to  depart.  —  Harvard  Register,  1827  -  28, 
p.  172. 

No  soft  adagio  from  the  muse  of  bloivs, 
E'er  roused  indignant  from  serene  repose. 

Ibid.,^.  233. 
And,  if  no  coming  blow  his  thoughts  engage, 
Lights  candle  and  cigar. 

Ibid.,  p.  235. 

The  person  who  engages  in  a  blow  is  also  called  a  blow, 
I  could  see,  in  the  long  vista  of  the  past,  the  many  hardened 

blows  who  had  rioted  here  around  the  festive  board.  —  Collegian, 

p.  231. 

BLUE.  In  several  American  colleges,  students  who  are  very 
strict  in  observing  the  laws,  and  conscientious  in  performing 
their  duties,  are  styled  blues.  "  Our  real  delvers,  midnight 
students,"  says  a  correspondent  from  Williams  College, 
"  are  called  blue.'''' 

I  would  n't  carry  a  novel  into  chapel  to  read,  —  not  out  of  any 
respect  for  some  people's  old-womanish  twaddle  about  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  place,  —  but  because  some  of  the  blues  might  see  you. 
—  Yale  Lit,  Mag,,  Vol.  XV.  p.  81. 

Each  jolly  soul  of  them  save  the  blues, 

Were  doffing  their  coats,  vests,  pants,  and  shoes. 

Yale  Gallinipper,  Nov.  1848. 
None  ever  knew  a  sober  "  blue,^^ 
In  this  "  blood  crowd  "  of  ours. 

Yale  Tomahawk,  Nov.  1849. 
Lucian  called  him  a  blue,  and  fell  back  in  his  chair  in  a  pouting 
fit.  —  The  Dartmouth,  Vol.  IV.  p.  118. 

BLUES.  The  name  of  a  party  which  formerly  existed  al 
Dartmouth  College.     In  The  Dartmouth,  Vol.  IV.  p.  117, 


22  COLfiEGE    WORDS 

1842,  is  the  following  :  — "  The  students  here  are  divided 
into  two  parties,  —  the  Roices  and  the  Blues.  The  Rowes 
are  very  liberal  in  their  notions  ;  the  Blues  more  strict. 
The  Rowes  don't  pretend  to  say  any  thing  worse  of  a  fellow 
than  to  call  him  a  Blue,  and  vice  versa." 
See  Indigo  and  Rowes. 

BOARD.  The  hoards,  or  college  boards,  in  the  English  uni- 
versities, are  long  wooden  tablets  on  which  the  names  of  the 
members  of  each  college  are  inscribed  according  to  senior- 
ity, generally  hung  up  in  the  buttery.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab. 
Webster. 

Similar  to  this  was  the  list  of  students  which  was  formerly 
kept  at  Harvard  College,  and  probably  at  Yale.  Judge 
Wingate,  who  graduated  at  the  former  institution  in  1759, 
writes  as  follows  in  reference  to  this  subject :  — "  The 
Freshman  Class  was,  in  my  day  at  college,  usually  placed 
(as  it  was  termed)  within  six  or  nine  months  after  their  ad- 
mission. The  official  notice  of  this  was  given  by  having 
their  names  written  in  a  large  German  text,  in  a  handsome 
style,  and  placed  in  a  conspicuous  part  of  the  College  But- 
tery, where  the  names  of  the  four  classes  of  undergraduates 
were  kept  suspended  until  they  left  College.  If  a  scholar 
was  expelled,  his  name  was  taken  from  its  place  ;  or  if  he 
was  degraded  (^hich  was  considered  the  next  highest  pun- 
ishment to  expulsion)  it  was  moved  accordingly."  —  Feirce'^s 
Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  p.  311. 

BOLT.  An  omission  of  a  recitation  or  lecture.  A  corre- 
spondent from  Union  College,  where  this  word  is  used,  gives 
the  following  account  of  it:  —  "In  West  College,  where 
the  Sophomores  and  Freshmen  congregate,  when  there  was  a 
famous  orator  expected,  or  any  unusual  spectacle  to  be  wit-, 
nessed  in  the  city,  we  would  call  a  '  class  meeting,'  to  con- 
sider upon  the   propriety  of   asking  Professor  for  a 

holt.  We  had  our  chairman,  and  the  subject  being  debated 
was  generally  decided  in  favor  of  the  remission.  A  com- 
mittee of  good  steady  fellows  were  selected,  who  forthwith 
waited  upon  the  Professor,  and  after  urging  the  matter,  com- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  23 

monly  returned  with  the  welcome  assurance,  that  we  could 
have  a  holt  from  the  next  recitation." 

BOLT.  At  Union  College,  to  be  absent  from  a  recitation,  on 
the  conditions  related  under  the  noun  Bolt.  Followed  by 
from.  At  Williams  College,  the  word  is  applied  with  a  dif- 
ferent signification.  A  correspondent  writes  :  "  We  some- 
times holt  from  a  recitation  before  the  Professor  arrives,  and 
the  term  most  strikingly  suggests  the  derivation,  as  our 
movements  in  the  case  would  somewhat  resemble  a  '  streak 
of  lightning,'  a  thunder-Z>oZ^" 

BOLTER.  At  Union  College,  one  who  holts  from  a  recita- 
tion. 

2.  A  correspondent  from  the  same  college  says  :  "  If 
a  student  is  unable  to  answer  a  question  in  the  class,  and 
declares  himself  unprepared,  he  also  is  a  '  holler.'* " 

BONFIRE.  The  making  of  bonfires,  by  students,  is  not  an 
unfrequent  occurrence  at  many  of  our  colleges,  and  is  usu- 
ally a  demonstration  of  dissatisfaction,  or  is  done  merely  for 
the  sake  of  the  excitement.  It  is  accounted  a  high  offence, 
and  at  Harvard  College  is  prohibited  by  the  following  law : 
—  "  In  case  of  a  bonfire,  or  unauthorized  fireworks  or  illu- 
mination, any  students  crying  fire, —  sounding  an  alarm, — 
leaving  their  rooms, — shouting  or  clapping  from  the  win- 
dows, —  going  to  the  fire,  or  being  seen  at  it,  —  going  into 
the  college  yard,  —  or  assembling  on  account  of  such  bon- 
fire, —  shall  be  deemed  aiding  and  abetting  such  disorder, 
and  punished  accordingly."  —  Laivs,  1848,  Bonjires. 

A  correspondent  from  Bowdoin  College  writes  :  "  Bon- 
fires occur  regularly  twice  a  year  ;  one  on  the  night  preced- 
ing the  annual  State  Fast,  and  the  other  is  built  by  the 
Freshmen  on  the  night  following  the  yearly  examination. 
A  pole  some  sixty  or  seventy  feet  long  is  raised,  around 
which  brush  and  tar  are  heaped  to  a  great  height.  The  con- 
struction of  the  pile  occupies  from  four  to  five  hours." 

Not  ye,  whom  midnight  cry  ne'er  urged  to  run 
In  search  of  fire,  when  fire  there  had  been  none ; 


24  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Unless,  perchance,  some  pump  or  hay-mound  threw 
Its  bonfire  lustre  o'er  a  jolly  crew. 

Harvard  Register,  p.  233. 

BOOK-KEEPER.  At  Harvard  College,  students  are  allowed 
to  go  out  of  town  on  Saturday,  after  the  exercises,  but  are 
required,  if  not  at  evening  prayers,  to  enter  their  names  be- 
fore 10,  P.  M.,  with  one  of  the  officers  appointed  for  that 
purpose.  Students  were  formerly  required  to  report  them- 
selves before  8,  P.  M.,  in  winter,  and  9,  in  summer,  and  the 
person  who  registered  the  names  was  a  member  of  the 
Freshman  Class,  and  was  called  the  hook-keeper, 

I  strode  over  the  bridge,  with  a  rapidity  which  grew  with  my 
vexation,  my  distaste  for  wind,  cold,  and  wet,  and  my  anxiety  to 
reach  my  goal  ere  the  appointed  hour  should  expire,  and  the  book- 
keeper's light  should  disappear  from  his  window  ; 
**  For  while  his  light  holds  out  to  burn. 
The  vilest  sinner  may  return."  —  Collegian,  p.  225. 

See  College  Feeshman. 
BOOTLICK.     To  fawn  upon  ;  to  court  favor. 

Scorns  the  acquaintance  of  those  he  deems  beneath  him  ;  refuses 
to  bootlick  men  for  their  votes. —  The  Parthenon,  Union  Coll.,  Vol. 
I.  p.  6. 

The  **  Wooden  Spoon  "  exhibition  passed  off  without  any  such 
hubbub,  except  where  the  pieces  were  of  such  a  character  as  to 
offend  the  delicacy  and  modesty  of  some  of  those  crouching,  fawn- 
ing, bootlicking  hypocrites.  —  The  Gallinipper,  Dec,  1849. 

BOOTLICKER.  A  student  who  seeks  or  gains  favor  from  a 
teacher  by  flattery  or  officious  civilities  ;  one  who  curries 
favor.  A  correspondent  from  Union  College  writes  :  "  As 
you  watch  the  students  more  closely,  you  will  perhaps  find 
some  of  them  particularly  officious  towards  your  teacher, 
and  very  apt  to  linger  after  recitation  to  get  a  clearer  knowl- 
edge of  some  passage.  They  are  Bootlicks,  and  that  is 
known  as  Bootlicking ;  a  reproach,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  too 
indiscriminately  applied."  At  Yale,  and  other  colleges^  a 
tutor  or  any  other  officer  who  informs  against  the  students, 
or  acts  as  a  spy  upon  their  conduct,  is  also  called  a  loot- 
lick. 


AND    CUSTOBIS.  25 

Three  or  four  bootlickers  rise.  —  Yale  Banger,  Oct.,  1848. 
The  rites  of  Wooden  Spoons  we  next  recite, 
When  bootlick  hypocrites  upraised  their  might. 

Ibid,,  Nov.,  1849. 
Then  he  arose,  and  offered  himself  as  a  " bootlick  "to  the  Faculty. 
—  Yale  Battery,  Feb.  14,  1850. 
BOOTS.  At  the  College  of  South  Carolina  it  is  customary  to 
present  the  most  unpopular  member  of  a  class  with  a  pair 
of  handsome  red-topped  boots,  on  which  is  inscribed  the 
word  Beauty.  They  were  formerly  given  to  the  ugliest 
person,  whence  the  inscription. 

BOS.  At  the  University  of  Virginia,  the  desserts  which  the 
students,  according  to  the  statutes  of  college,  are  allowed 
twice  per  week,  are  respectively  called  the  Senior  and 
Junior  Bos. 

BRACKETS.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  at  the 
close  of  the  course,  and  before  the  examination  is  concluded, 
there  is  made  out  a  new  arrangement  of  the  classes  called 
the  Brackets.  These,  in  which  each  is  placed  according  to 
merit,  are  hung  upon  the  pillars  in  the  Senate-House.  — 
Alma  Mater,  Vol.  II.  p.  93. 

BRANDER.  In  the  German  universities  a  name  given  to  a 
student  during  his  second  term. 

Meanwhile  large  tufts  and  strips  of  paper  had  been  twisted  into* 
the  hair  of  the  Branders,  as  those  are  called  who  have  been  already 
one  term  at  the  University,  and  then  at  a  given  signal  were  set  on 
fire,  and  the  Branders  rode  round  the  table  on  chairs,  amid  roars 
of  laughter.  —  Longfellow'' s  Hyperion,  p.  114. 

See  Burnt  Fox. 
BRICK.     A  gay,  wild,  thoughtless  fellow,  but  not  so  hard  as 
the  word  itself  might  seem  to  imply. 

He  is  a  queer  fellow,  —  not  so  bad  as  he  seems,  —  his  own  ene- 
my, but  a  regular  brick.  —  Collegian^s  Guide,  p.  143. 
BRICK  MILL.     At  the  University  of  Vermont,  the  students 
speak  of  the  college  as  the  Brick  Mill,  or  the  Old  Brick 
Mill. 

BULL.     At  Dartmouth  College,  to  recite  badly ;  to  make  a 
3 


26  COLLEGE    WORDS 

poor  recitation.  From  the  substantive  lull^  a  blunder  or 
contradiction,  or  from  the  use  of  the  word  as  a  prefix,  signi- 
fying large,  lubberly,  blundering. 

BULL-DOG.      In  the  English  universities,  the  servant  of  a 
proctor  is  thus  designated. 

The  proctors,  through  their  attendants,  commonly  called  hull- 
dogs^  received  much  certain  information,  &c.  —  Collegian's  Guide, 
p.  170. 

BULLYISM.  The  following  account  of  huUyism  at  Yale  Col- 
lege, is  taken  from  an  entertaining  little  work,  entitled 
Sketches  of  Yale  College.  "  Bullyism  had  its  origin,  like 
every  thing  else  that  is  venerated,  far  back  in  antiquity  ;  no 
one  pretends  to  know  the  era  of  its  commencement,  nor  to 
say  with  certainty  what  was  the  cause  of  its  establishment, 
or  the  original  design  of  the  institution.  We  can  only  learn 
from  dim  and  doubtful  tradition,  that  many  years  ago,  no  one 
knows  how  many,  there  was  a  feud  between  students  and 
townsmen  :  a  sort  of  general  ill-feeling,  which  manifested 
itself  in  the  lower  classes  of  society  in  rudeness  and  insult. 
Not  patiently  borne  with,  it  grew  worse  and  worse,  until  a 
regular  organization  became  necessary  for  defence  against 
the  nightly  assaults  of  a  gang  of  drunken  rowdies.  Nor 
were  their  opponents  disposed  to  quit  the  unequal  fight.  An 
organization  in  opposition  followed,  and  a  band  of  tipsy 
townsmen,  headed  by  some  hardy  tars,  took  the  field,  were 
met,  no  one  knows  whether  in  ofl^ence  or  defence,  and  after 
a  fight  repulsed,  and  a  huge  knotty  club  wrested  from  their 
leader.  This  trophy  of  personal  courage  was  preserved, 
the  organization  perpetuated,  and  the  Bully  Club  was  every 
year,  with  procession  and  set  form  of  speech,  bestowed  upon  , 
the  newly  acknowledged  leader.  But  in  process  of  time  the 
organization  has  assumed  a  different  character  :  there  was 
no  longer  need  of  a  system  of  defence,  —  the  "Bully"  was 
still  acknowledged  as  class  leader.  He  marshalled  all  pro- 
cessions, was  moderator  of  all  meetings,  and  performed  the 
various  duties  of  a  chief.  The  title  became  now  a  matter  of 
dispute  ;  it  sounded  harsh  and  rude  to  ears  polite,  and  a 


AND    CUSTOMS.  27 

Strong  party  proposed  a  change  :  but  the  supporters  of  an- 
tiquity pleaded  the  venerable  character  of  the  customs  identi- 
fied almost  with  the  College  itself  Thus  the  classes  were 
divided,  a  part  electing  a  marshal,  class  leader,  or  moderator, 
and  a  part  still  choosing  a  lully  and  minor  lully  —  the  lat- 
ter usually  the  least  of  their  number —  from  each  class,  and 
still  bestowing  on  them  the  wonted  clubs,  mounted  with  gold, 
the  badges  of  their  office. 

"  Unimportant  as  these  distinctions  seem,  they  formed  the 
ground  of  constant  controversy,  each  party  claiming  for  its 
leader  the  precedence,  until  the  dissensions  ended  in  a  scene 
of  confusion  too  well  known  to  need  detail :  the  usual  pro- 
cession on  Commencement  day  was  broken  up,  and  the 
partisans  fell  upon  each  other  pell-mell ;  scarce  heeding,  in 
their  hot  fray,  the  orders  of  the  Faculty,  the  threats  of  the 
constables,  or  even  the  rebuke  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
State ;  the  alumni  were  left  to  find  their  seats  in  church  as 
they  best  could,  the  aged  and  beloved  President  following  in 
sorrow,  unescorted,  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  day.  It 
need  not  be  told  that  the  disputes  were  judicially  ended  by  a 
peremptory  ordinance,  prohibiting  all  class  organizations  of 
any  name  whatever." 

BURIAL  OF  EUCLID.  "  The  custom  of  bestowing  burial 
honors  upon  the  ashes  of  Euclid  with  becoming  demonstra- 
tions of  respect  has  been  handed  down,"  says  the  author  of 
the  Sketches  of  Yale  College,  "  from  time  immemorial." 
The  account  proceeds  as  follows  :  —  "  This  book,  the  terror  of 
the  dilatory  and  unapt,  having  at  length  been  completely 
mastered,  the  class,  as  their  acquaintance  with  the  Greek 
mathematician  is  about  to  close,  assemble  in  their  respective 
places  of  meeting,  and  prepare  (secretly  for  fear  of  the  Fac- 
ulty) for  the  anniversary.  The  necessary  committee  having 
been  appointed,  and  the  regular  preparations  ordered,  a 
ceremony  has  sometimes  taken  place  like  the  following. 
The  huge  poker  is  heated  in  the  old  stove  and  driven  through 
the  smoking  volume,  and  the  division,  marshalled  in  line,  for 
once  at  least  see  through  the  whole  affair.  They  then  march 
over  it  in  solemn  procession,  and  are  enabled,  as  they  step 


28  COLLEGE    WORDS 

firmly  on  its  covers,  to  assert  with  truth  that  they  have  gone 
over  it,  —  poor  jokes  indeed,  but  sufficient  to  afford  abundant 
laughter.  And  then  follow  speeches,  comical  and  pathetic, 
and  shouting  and  merriment.  The  night  assigned  having 
arrived,  how  carefully  they  assemble,  all  silent,  at  the  place 
appointed.  Laid  on  its  bier,  covered  with  sable  pall,  and 
borne  in  solemn  state,  the  corpse  (i.  e.  the  book)  is  carried 
with  slow  procession,  with  the  moaning  music  of  flutes  and 
fifes,  the  screaming  of  fiddles,  and  the  thumping  and  mum- 
bling of  a  cracked  drum,  to  the  opened  grave  or  the  funeral 
pyre.  A  gleaming  line  of  blazing  torches  and  twinkling 
lanterns  wave  along  the  quiet  streets  and  through  the  opened 
fields,  and  the  snow  creaks  hoarsely  under  the  tread  of  a 
hundred  men.  They  reach  the  scene,  and  a  circle  forms 
around  the  consecrated  spot ;  if  the  ceremony  is  a  burial, 
the  defunct  is  laid  all  carefully  in  his  grave,  and  then  his 
friends  celebrate  in  prose  or  verse  his  memory,  his  virtues, 
and  his  untimely  end  :  and  three  oboli  are  tossed  into  his  tomb 
to  satisfy  the  surly  boatman  of  the  Styx.  Lingeringly  is  the 
last  look  taken  of  the  familiar  countenance,  as  the  procession 
passes  slowly  around  the  tomb ;  and  the  moaning  is  made  — 
a  sound  of  groans  going  up  to  the  seventh  heavens  —  and  the 
earth  is  thrown  in,  and  the  headstone  with  epitaph  placed 
duly  to  hallow  the  grave  of  the  dead.  Or  if,  according  to 
the  custom  of  his  native  land,  the  body  of  Euclid  is  com- 
mitted to  the  funeral  flames,  the  pyre,  duly  prepared  with 
combustibles,  is  made  the  centre  of  the  ring ;  a  ponderous 
jar  of  turpentine  or  whiskey  is  the  fragrant  incense,  and  as 
the  lighted  fire  mounts  up  in  the  still  night,  and  the  alarm  in 
the  city  sounds  dim  in  the  distance,  the  eulogium  is  spoken, 
and  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  dead  honored  ;  the  urn 
receives  the  sacred  ashes,  which,  borne  in  solemn  proces- 
sion, are  placed  on  some  conspicuous  situation,  or  solemnly 
deposited  in  some  fitting  sarcophagus.  So  the  sport  ends ; 
a  song,  a  loud  hurrah,  and  the  last  jovial  roysterer  seeks  short 
and  profound  slumber."  —  pp.  166-  169. 

The  above  was  written  in  the  year  1843.     That  the  inter- 
est in  the  observance  of  this  custom  at  Yale  College  has  not 


AND    CUSTOMS.  29 

since  that  time  diminished,  may  be  inferred  from  the  follow- 
ing account  of  the  exercises  of  the  Sophomore  Class  of 
1850,  on  parting  company  with  their  old  mathematical 
friend,  given  by  a  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Trib- 
une. 

"Arrangements  having  been  well  matured,  notice  was 
secretly  given  out  on  Wednesday  last  that  the  obsequies 
would  be  celebrated  that  evening  at  'Barney's  Hall,'  on 
Church  Street.  An  excellent  band  of  music  was  engaged 
for  the  occasion,  and  an  efficient  Force  Committee  assigned 
to  their  duty,  who  performed  their  office  with  great  credit, 
taking  singular  care  that  no  '  tutor '  or  '  spy '  should  secure  an 
entrance  to  the  hall.  The  ' countersign'  selected  was  'Leus,' 
and  fortunately  was  not  betrayed.  The  hall  being  full  at 
half  past  ten,  the  doors  were  closed,  and  the  exercises  com- 
menced with  music.  Then  followed  numerous  pieces  of 
various  character,  and  among  them  an  Oration^  a  Poem^ 
Funeral  Sermon  (of  a  very  metaphysical  character),  a 
Dirge^  and,  at  the  grave,  a  Prayer  to  Pluto.  These  pieces 
all  exhibited  taste  and  labor,  and  were  acknowledged  to  be 
of  a  higher  tone  than  that  of  any  productions  which  have 
ever  been  delivered  on  a  similar  occasion.  Besides  these, 
there  were  several  songs  interspersed  throughout  the  Pro- 
gramme, in  both  Latin  and  English,  which  were  sung  with 
great  jollity  and  effect.  The  band  added  greatly  to  the 
character  of  the  performances,  by  their  frequent  and  appro- 
priate pieces.  A  large  coffin  was  placed  before  the  altar, 
within  which  lay  the  veritable  Euclid,  arranged  in  a  becom- 
ing winding-sheet,  the  body  being  composed  of  combustibles, 
and  these  thoroughly  saturated  with  turpentine.  The  com- 
pany left  the  hall  at  half  past  twelve,  formed  in  an  orderly 
procession,  preceded  by  the  band,  and  bearing  the  coffin  in 
their  midst.  Those  who  composed  the  procession  were 
arrayed  in  disguises,  to  avoid  detection,  and  bore  a  full  com- 
plement of  brilliant  torches.  The  skeleton  of  Euclid  (a 
faithful  caricature),  himself  bearing  a  torch,  might  have 
been  seen  dancing  in  the  midst,  to  the  great  amusement  of 
all  beholders.  They  marched  up  Chapel  Street  as  far  as 
3* 


30  COLLEGE    WORDS 

the  south  end  of  the  Colleges,  where  they  were  saluted  with 
three  hearty  cheers  by  their  fellow-students,  and  then  con- 
tinued through  College  Street  in  front  of  the  whole  College 
square,  at  the  north  extremity  of  which  they  were  again 
greeted  by  cheers,  and  thence  followed  a  circuitous  way 
to  quasi  Potter's  Field,  about  a  mile  from  the  city,  where 
the  concluding  ceremonies  were  performed.  These  consist 
of  walking  over  the  coffin,  thus  surmounting  the  difficMlties 
of  the  author  ;  boring  a  hole  through  a  copy  of  Euclid  with 
a  hot  iron,  that  the  class  may  see  through  it ;  and  finally 
burning  it  upon  the  funeral  pyre,  in  order  to  throw  light 
upon  the  subject.  After  these  exercises,  the  procession 
returned,  with  music,  to  the  State-House,  where  they  dis- 
banded, and  returned  to  their  desolate  habitations.  The 
affair  surpassed  any  thing  of  the  kind  that  has  ever  taken 
place  here,  and  nothing  was  wanting  to  render  it  a  complete 
performance.  It  testifies  to  the  spirit  and  character  of  the 
class  of  '53."  —  Literary  World,  Nov.  23,  1850,  from  the 
Neiu  York  Tribune. 

In  the  Sketches  of  Williams  College,  printed  in  the  year 
1847,  is  a  description  of  the  manner  in  which  the  funeral  ex- 
ercises of  Euclid  are  sometimes  conducted  in  that  institution. 
It  is  as  follows  :  —  "The  burial  took  place  last  night.  The 
class  assembled  in  the  recitation-room  in  full  numbers,  at 
9  o'clock.  The  deceased,  much  emaciated,  and  in  a  torn 
and  tattered  dress,  was  stretched  on  a  black  table  in  the 
centre  of  the  room.  This  table,  by  the  way,  was  formed  of 
the  old  blackboard,  which,  like  a  mirror,  had  so  often  re- 
flected the  image  of  old  Euclid.  In  the  body  of  the  corpse 
was  a  triangular  hole,  made  for  the  post  mortem  examina- 
tion, a  report  of  which  was  read.  Through  this  hole,  those 
who  wished  were  allowed  to  look  ;  and  then,  placing  the 
body  on  their  heads,  they  could  say  with  truth  that  they  had 
for  once  seen  through  and  understood  Euclid. 

"  A  eulogy  was  then  pronounced,  followed  by  an  oration 
and  the  reading  of  the  epitaph,  after  which  the  class  formed 
a  procession,  and  marched  with  slow  and  solemn  tread  to 
the  place  of  burial.     The  spot  selected  was  in  the  woods 


AND   CUSTOMS.  31 

half  a  mile  south  of  the  Colleges.  As  we  approached  the 
place,  we  saw  a  bright  fire  burning  on  the  altar  of  turf,  and 
torches  gleaming  through  the  dark  pines.  All  was  still,  save 
the  occasional  sympathetic  groans  of  some  forlorn  bull-frogs 
which  came  up  like  minute-guns  from  the  marsh  below. 

"  When  we  arrived  at  the  spot,  the  sexton  received  the 
body.  This  dignitary  presented  rather  a  grotesque  appear- 
ance. He  wore  a  white  robe  bound  around  his  waist  with  a 
black  scarf,  and  on  his  head  a  black,  conical-shaped  hat, 
some  three  feet  high.  Having  fastened  the  remains  to  the 
extremity  of  a  long,  black  wand,  he  held  them  in  the  fire  of 
the  altar  until  they  were  nearly  consumed,  and  then  laid 
the  charred  mass  in  the  urn,  muttering  an  incantation  in 
Latin.  The  urn  being  buried  deep  in  the  ground,  we  formed 
a  ring  around  the  grave,  and  sung  the  dirge.  Then,  light- 
ing our  torches  by  the  dying  fire,  we  retraced  our  steps  with 
feelings  suited  to  the  occasion."  —  pp.  74-76. 

BURNING  OF  CONVIVIUM.  Convivium  is  a  Greek  book 
which  is  studied  at  Hamilton  College  during  the  last  term 
of  the  Freshman  year,  and  is  considered  somewhat  difficult. 
Upon  entering  Sophomore  it  is  customary  to  burn  it,  with 
exercises  appropriate  to  the  occasion.  The  time  being  ap- 
pointed, the  class  hold  a  meeting  and  elect  the  marshals  of 
the  night.  A  large  pyre  is  built  during  the  evening  of  rails 
and  pine  w^ood,  on  the  middle  of  which  is  placed  a  barrel  of 
tar,  surrounded  by  straw  saturated  with  turpentine.  Notice 
is  then  given  to  the  upper  classes  that  Convivium  will  be 
burnt  that  night  at  twelve  o'clock.  Their  company  is  re- 
quested at  the  exercises,  which  consist  of  two  poems,  a  trag- 
edy, and  a  funeral  oration.  A  coffin  is  laid  out  with  the 
"  remains  "  of  the  book,  and  the  literary  exercises  are  per- 
formed. These  concluded,  the  class  form  a  procession, 
preceded  by  a  brass  band  playing  a  dirge,  and  march  to  the 
pyre,  around  which,  with  uncovered  heads,  they  solemnly 
form.  The  four  bearers  wuh  their  torches  then  advance 
silently,  and  place  the  coffin  upon  the  funeral  pile.  The 
class,  each  member  bearing  a  torch,  form  a  circle  around  the 
pyre.     At  a  given  signal  they  all  bend  forward  together, 


tW  COLLEGE    WORDS 

and  touch  their  torches  to  the  heap  of  combustibles.  In  an 
instant  "  a  lurid  flame  arises,  licks  around  the  coffin,  and 
shakes  its  tongue  to  heaven."  To  these  ceremonies  suc- 
ceed festivities,  vi^hich  are  usually  continued  until  daylight. 

Burning  of  Zump^s  Latin  Grammar,  The  funeral  rites 
over  the  body  of  this  book  are  performed  by  the  students 
in  the  University  of  New  York.  The  place  of  burning 
and  burial  is  usually  at  Hoboken.  Scenes  of  this  nature 
often  occur  in  American  colleges,  having  their  origin,  it  is 
supposed,  in  the  custom  at  Yale  of  burying  Euclid. 

BURNT  FOX.     A  student  during  his  second  half-year,  in  the 
German  universities,  is  called  a  burnt  fox. 

BURSAE,  pL  BuRSARii.      A  treasurer  or  cash-keeper ;   as, 
the  bursar  of  a  college  or  of  a  monastery. 

The  said  College  in  Cambridge  shall  be  a  corporation  consisting 
of  seven  persons,  to  wit,  a  President,  five  Fellows,  and  a  Treasurer 
or  Bursar.  —  Peirce^s  Hist,  Harv,  Univ.,  App.,  p.  11. 

Every  student  is  required  on  his  arrival,  at  the  commencement  of 
each  session,  to  deliver  to  the  Bursar  the  moneys  and  drafts  for 
money  which  he  has  brought  with  him.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
Bursar  to  attend  to  the  settlement  of  the  demands  for  board,  &c. ; 
,  to  pay  into  the  hands  of  the  student  such  sums  as  are  required  for 
other  necessary  expenses,  and  to  render  a  statement  of  the  same 
to  the  parent  or  guardian  at  the  close  of  the  session.  —  Catalogue 
of  Univ.  of  North  Carolina,  1848-49,  p.  27. 

2.  A  student  to  whom  a  stipend  is  paid  out  of  a  burse  or 

fund  appropriated  for  that  purpose,  as  the  exhibitioners  sent 

to   the    universities    in   Scotland,    by   each   presbytery.  — 

Webster, 

See  a  full  account  in  Brande^s  Diet.  Science^  Lit.^  and  Art, 

BURSARY.     The   treasury  of  a  college   or   monastery.  — 
Webster, 
2,  In  Scotland,  an  exhibition. —  Encyc, 

BURSCH  (bursh),  pi,  Burschen.    German.    A  youth  ;  espe- 
cially a  student  in  a  German  university. 

llnb  (jat  ^er  35  u  r  f  c^  tein  (5tU>  im  95eute(, 
(So  )^iimpt  tx  tie  9>t;Uif^^t^  <^n, 


AND    CUSTOMS.  33 

tint)  Unit ;  eef  i^  bcc^  Zlk^  dte( 
Q3om  SD  u  r  f  (I;  e  n  bi^  jum  SSettetmatt. 

CrambambuU  Song, 

Student  life  !  Burschen  life  !  What  a  magic  sound  have  these 
words  for  him  who  has  learnt  for  himself  their  real  meaning.  — 
HowiWs  Student  Life  of  Germany, 

BURSCHENSCHAFT.  A  league  or  secret  association  of 
students,  formed  in  1815,  for  the  purpose,  as  was  asserted, 
of  the  political  regeneration  of  Germany,  and  suppressed,  at 
least  in  name,  by  the  exertions  of  the  government.  — Brande, 
"  The  Burschenschaft,"  says  the  Yale  Literary  Magazine, 
"  was  a  society  formed  in  opposition  to  the  vices  and  follies 
of  the  Landsmannschaft,  with  the  motto,  'God,  Honor, 
Freedom,  Fatherland.'  Its  object  was  '  to  develop  and  per- 
fect every  mental  and  bodily  power  for  the  service  of  the 
Fatherland.'  It  exerted  a  mighty  and  salutary  influence; 
was  almost  supreme  in  its  power,  but  was  finally  suppressed 
by  the  government,  on  account  of  its  alleged  dangerous  po- 
litical tendencies."  —  Vol.  XV.  p.  3. 

BURSE.  In  France,  a  fund  or  foundation  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  poor  scholars  in  their  studies.  In  the  Middle  Ages, 
it  signified  a  little  college,  or  a  hall  in  a  university.  —  Weh- 
ster, 

BURST.  To  fail  in  reciting ;  to  make  a  bad  recitation.  This 
word  is  used  in  some  of  the  Southern  colleges.  "^ 

BURT.  At  Union  College,  a  privy  is  called  the  Burt ;  the 
derivation  is  uncertain. 

BUSY.  An  answer  often  given  by  a  student,  when  he  does 
not  wish  to  see  visitors. 

Poor  Croak  was  almost  annihilated  by  this  summons,  and,  cling- 
ing to  the'  bed-clothes  in  all  the  agony  of  despair,  forgot  to  busy  his 
midnight  visitor.  —  Harv.  Reg. ,  p.  84. 

Whenever,  during  that  sacred  season,  a  knock  salutes  my  door, 
I  respond  with  a  busy.  —  Collegian,  p.  25. 

BUTLER.  Anciently  written  Botiler.  A  servant  or  offi- 
cer whose  principal  business  is  to  take  charge  of  the  liquors, 
food,  plate,  &ic.     In  the  old  laws  of  Harvard  College  we 


34  COLLEGE  WORDS 

find  an  enumeration  of  the  duties  of  the  college  butler. 
Some  of  them  were  as  follows. 

He  was  to  keep  the  rooms  and  utensils  belonging  to  his 
office  sweet  and  clean,  fit  for  use ;  his  drinking  vessels 
were  to  be  scoured  once  a  week.  The  fines  imposed  by 
the  President  and  other  officers  were  to  be  fairly  recorded 
by  him  in  a  book,  kept  for  that  purpose.  He  was  to  attend 
upon  the  ringing  of  the  bell  for  prayer  in  the  hall,  and  for 
lectures  and  commons.  Providing  candles  for  the  hall  was 
a  part  of  his  duty.  He  was  obliged  to  keep  the  Buttery 
supplied,  at  his  own  expense,  with  beer,  cider,  tea,  coffee, 
chocolate,  sugar,  biscuit,  butter,  cheese,  pens,  ink,  paper, 
and  such  other  articles  as  the  President  or  Corporation  or- 
dered or  permitted  ;  "  but  no  permission,"  it  is  added  in  the 
laws,  "  shall  be  given  for  selling  wine,  distilled  spirits,  or 
foreign  fruits,  on  credit  or  for  ready  money."  He  was 
allowed  to  advance  twenty  per  cent,  on  the  net  cost  of  the 
articles  sold  by  him,  excepting  beer  and  cider,  which  were 
stated  quarterly  by  the  President  and  Tutors.  The  Butler 
was  allowed  a  Freshman  to  assist  him,  for  an  account  of 
whom  see  under  Butler's  Freshman.  —  Peirce's  Hist. 
Harv.  TJniv.^  App.,  pp.  138,  139.  Laws  Harv.  Co7?.,  1798, 
pp.  60  -  62. 

President  Woolsey,  in  his  Historical  Discourse  pronounced 
before  the  Graduates  of  Yale  College,  August  14th,  1850, 
remarks  as  follows  concerning  the  Butler,  in  connection 
with  that  institution  :  — 

"  The  classes  since  1817,  when  the  office  of  Butler  was 
abolished,  are  probably  but  little  aware  of  the  meaning  of 
that  singular  appendage  to  the  College,  which  had  been 
in  existence  a  hundred  years.  To  older  graduates  the 
lower  front  corner  room  of  the  old  middle  college  in 
the  south  entry  must  even  now  suggest  many  amusing 
recollections.  The  Butler  was  a  graduate  of  recent  stand- 
ing, and,  being  invested  with  rather  delicate  functions,  was 
required  to  be  one  in  whom  confidence  might  be  reposed. 
Several  of  the  elder  graduates  who  have  filled  this  office 
are  here  to-day,  and  can   explain,  better   than  I  can,  its 


AND   CUSTOMS.  35 

duties  and  its  bearings  upon  the  interests  of  College.  The 
chief  prerogative  of  the  Butler  was  to  have  the  monopoly 
of  certain  eatables,  drinkables,  and  other  articles  desired  by- 
students.  The  Latin  laws  of  1748  give  him  leave  to  sell 
in  the  buttery,  cider,  metheglin,  strong  beer  to  the  amount 
of  not  more  than  twelve  barrels  annually,  —  which  amount 
as  the  College  grew  was  increased  to  twenty,  —  together 
with  loaf-sugar  ('  saccharum  rigidum  '),  pipes,  tobacco,  and 
such  necessaries  of  scholars  as  were  not  furnished  in  the 
commons  hall.  Some  of  these  necessaries  were  books  and 
stationery,  but  certain  fresh  fruits  also  figured  largely  in  the 
Butler's  supply.  No  student  might  buy  cider  or  beer  else- 
where. The  Butler,  too,  had  the  care  of  the  bell,  and  was 
bound  to  wait  upon  the  President  or  a  Tutor,  and  notify  him 
of  the  time  for  prayers.  He  kept  the  book  of  fines,  which, 
as  we  shall  see,  was  no  small  task.  He  distributed  the 
bread  and  beer  provided  by  the  Steward  in  the  Hall  into 
equal  portions,  and  had  the  lost  commons,  for  which  privi- 
lege he  paid  a  small  annual  sum.  He  was  bound,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  profits  of  his  monopoly,  to  provide  candles 
at  college  prayers  and  for  a  time  to  pay  also  fifty  shillings 
sterling  into  the  treasury.  The  more  menial  part  of  these 
duties  he  performed  by  his  waiter."  —  pp.  43,  44.  At  both 
Harvard  and  Yale  the  students  were  restricted  in  expending 
money  at  the  Buttery,  being  allowed  at  the  former  "  to  con- 
tract a  debt  "  of  five  dollars  a  quarter  ;  at  the  latter,  of  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  month. 

BUTTER.  A  size  or  small  portion  of  butter.  "  Send  me  a 
roll  and  two  Butters."  —  Grad,  ad  Cantah, 

Six  cheeses,  three  butters,  and  two   beers. —  The  Collegian^ s 
Guide. 

BUTTERY.  An  apartment  in  a  house  where  butter,  milk, 
provisions,  and  utensils  are  kept.  In  some  colleges,  a  room 
where  liquors,  fruit,  and  refreshments  are  kept  for  sale  to 
the  students.  —  Wehster. 

Of  the  Buttery,  Mr.  Peirce,  in  his  History  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, speaks  as  follows ;  —  "As  the  Commons  rendered  the 


36  COLLEGE    WORDS 

College  independent  of  private  boarding-houses,  so  the  But- 
tery removed  all  just  occasion  for  resorting  to  the  different 
marts  of  luxury,  intemperance,  and  ruin.  This  was  a  kind 
of  supplement  to  the  Commons,  and  offered  for  sale  to  the 
students,  at  a  moderate  advance  on  the  cost,  wines,  liquors, 
groceries,  stationery,  and  in  general  such  articles  as  it  was 
proper  and  necessary  for  them  to  have  occasionally,  and 
which  for  the  most  part  were  not  included  in  the  Commons 
fare.  The  Buttlry  was  also  an  ofhce,  where,  among  other 
things,  records  were  kept  of  the  times  when  the  scholars 
were  present  and  absent.  At  their  admission  and  subse- 
quent returns  they  entered  their  names  in  the  Buttery,  and 
took  them  out  whenever  they  had  leave  of  absence.  The 
Butler,  who  was  a  graduate,  had  various  other  duties  to 
perform,  either  by.  himself  or  by  his  Freshman^  as  ringing 
the  bell,  seeing  that  the  Hall  was  kept  clean,  &c.,  and  was 
allowed  a  salary,  which,  after  1765,  was  £  60  per  annum." 
—  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  p.  220. 

President  Woolsey,  in  his  Historical  Discourse  pronounced 
before  the  Graduates  of  Yale  College,  August  14th,  1850, 
makes  the  following  remarks  on  this  subject :  —  '*  The  orig- 
inal motives  for  setting  up  a  buttery  in  colleges  seem  to 
have  been  to  put  the  trade  in  articles  which  appealed  to  the 
appetite  into  safe  hands,  to  ascertain  how  far  students  were 
expensive  in  their  habits,  and  prevent  them  from  running 
into  debt ;  and  finally,  by  providing  a  place  where  drinka- 
bles of  not  very  stimulating  qualities  were  sold,  to  remove 
the  temptation  of  going  abroad  after  spirituous  liquors.  Ac- 
cordingly, laws  were  passed  limiting  the  sum  for  which  the 
Butler  might  give  credit  to  a  student,  authorizing  the  Presi- 
dent to  inspect  his  books,  and  forbidding  him  to  sell  any 
thing  except  permitted  articles  for  ready  money.  But  the 
whole  system,  as  viewed  from  our  position  as  critics  of  the 
past,  must  be  pronounced  a  bad  one.  It  rather  tempted  the 
student  to  self-indulgence  by  setting  up  a  place  for  the  sale 
of  things  to  eat  and  drink  within  the  College  walls,  than  re- 
strained him  by  bringing  his  habits  under  inspection.  There 
was  nothing  to  prevent  his  going  abroad  in  quest  of  stronger 


AND    CUSTOMS.  37 

drinks  than  could  be  bought  at  the  buttery,  when  once  those 
which  were  there  sold  ceased  to  allay  his  thirst.  And  a 
monopoly,  such  as  the  butler  enjoyed  of  certain  articles,  did 
not  tend  to  lower  their  price,  or  to  renaove  suspicion  that 
they  were  sold  at  a  higher  rate  than  free  competition  would 
assign  to  them."  —  pp.  44,  45. 

"  When,"  says  the  Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam,  "  the  '  pun- 
ishment obscene,'  as  Cowper,  the  poet,  very  properly  terms 
it,  o^  flagellation,  was  enforced  at  our  University,  it  appears 
that  the  Buttery  was  the  scene  of  action.  In  the  Poor 
Scholar,  a  comedy,  written  by  Eobert  Nevile,  Fellow  of 
King's  College  in  Cambridge,  London,  1662,  one  of  the 
students  having  lost  his  gown,  which  is  picked  up  by  the 
President  of  the  College,  the  tutor  says,  '  If  we  knew  the 
owner,  we  'd  take  him  down  to  th'  Butterie,  and  give  him 
due  correction.'  To  which  the  student,  (aside,)  '  Under  cor- 
rection. Sir ;  if  you  're  for  the  Butteries  with  me,  I  '11  lie  as- 
close  as  Diogenes  in  dolio.  I  '11  creep  in  at  the  bunghole,. 
before  I  '11  mount  a  barrel,''  &c.  (Ac.  II.  Sc.  6.)  —  Again  : 
'  Had  I  been  once  i'  th'  Butteries,  they 'd  have  their  rods 
about  me.  But  let  us,  for  joy  that  I  'm  escaped,  go  to  the 
Three  Tuns  and  drink  a  pint  of  wine,  and  laugh  away  our 
cares.  —  'T  is  drinking  at  the  Tuns  that  keeps  us  from  as- 
cending Buttery  barrels,'  &c."  By  a  reference  to  the  word 
Punishment,  it  will  be  seen  that,  in  the  older  American 
colleges,  corporal  punishment  was  inflicted  upon  disobedient 
students  in  a  manner  much  more  solemn  and  imposing,  the 
students  and  officers  usually  being  present. 

The  effect  of  crossing  the  name  in  the  buttery  is  thus 
stated  in  the  Collegian's  Guide.  "  To  keep  a  term  requires 
residence  in  the  University  for  a  certain  number  of  days 
within  a  space  of  time  known  by  the  calendar,  and  the 
books  of  the  buttery  afford  the  appointed  proof  of  resi- 
dence ;  it  being  presumed  that,  if  neither  bread,  butter, 
pastry,  beer,  or  even  toast  and  water  (which  is  charged  one 
farthing),  are  entered  on  the  buttery  books  in  a  given  name, 
the  party  could  not  have  been  resident  that  day.  Hence  the 
phrase  of  '  eating  one's  way  into  the  church  or  to  a  doctor's 
4 


38  COLLEGE    WORDS 

degree.'  Supposing,  for  example,  twenty-one  days'  resi- 
dence are  required  between  the  first  of  May  and  the  twenty- 
fourth  inclusive,  then  there  will  be  but  three  days  to  spare ; 
consequently,  should  our  names  be  crossed  for  more  than 
three  days  in  all  in  that  term,  —  say  for  four  days,  —  the 
other  twenty  days  would  not  count,  and  the  term  would  be 
irrecoverably  lost.  Having  our  names  crossed  in  the  but- 
tery, therefore,  is  a  punishment  which  suspends  our  collegiate 
existence  while  the  cross  remains,  besides  putting  an  embar- 
go on  our  pudding,  beer,  bread  and  cheese,  milk,  and  butter  ; 
for  these  articles  come  out  of  the  buttery." —  p.  157. 

These  remarks  apply  both  to  the  Universities  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge,  but  in  the  latter  the  phrase  to  he  put  out  of 
commons  is  used  instead  of  the  one  given  above,  yet  with 
the  same  meaning.     See  Gradus  ad  Cantahrigiam^  p.  32. 

The  following  extract  from  the  laws  of  Harvard  College, 
passed  in  1734,  shows  that  this  term  was  formerly  used  in 
that  institution  :  —  *'  No  scholar  shall  be  put  in  or  out  of 
Commons^  but  on  Tuesdays  or  Fridays,  and  no  Bachelor  or 
Undergratuate,  but  by  a  note  from  the  President,  or  one  of 
the  Tutors  (if  an  Undergraduate,  from  his  own  Tutor,  if  in 
town)  ;  and  when  any  Bachelors  or  Undergraduates  have 
been  out  of  Commons,  the  waiters,  at  their  respective  tables, 
shall,  on  the  first  Tuesday  or  Friday  after  they  become 
obliged  by  the  preceding  law  to  be  in  Commons,  put  them 
into  Commons  again,  by  note,  after  the  manner  above  di- 
rected. And  if  any  Master  neglects  to  put  himself  into 
Commons,  when,  by  the  preceding  law,  he  is  obliged  to  be 
in  Commons,  the  waiters  on  the  Masters'  table  shall  apply  to 
the  President  or  one  of  the  Tutors  for  a  note  to  put  him  into 
Commons,  and  inform  him  of  it." 

Be  mine  each  morn,  with  eager  appetite 
And  hunger  undissembled,  to  repair 
To  friendly  Buttery ;  there  on  smoking  Crust 
And  foaming  Ale  to  banquet  unrestrained, 
Material  breakfast ! 

The  Student,  Vol.  I.  p.  107.     1750. 

BUTTERY-BOOK.     In  colleges,  a  book  kept  at  the  buttery. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  89 

in  which  was  charged  the  prices  of  such  articles  as  were 
sold  to  the  students.  There  was  also  kept  a  list  of  the  fines 
imposed  by  the  president  and  professors,  and  an  account  of 
the  times  when  the  students  were  present  and  absent,  to- 
gether with  a  register  of  the  names  of  all  the  members  of 
the  college. 

My  name  in  sure  recording  page 

Shall  time  itself  o'erpower, 
If  no  rude  mice  with  envious  rage 
The  buttery-boohs  devour. 

The  Student,  Vol.  I.  p.  348. 

BUTTERY-HATCH.  A  half-door  between  the  buttery  or 
kitchen  and  the  hall,  in  colleges  and  old  mansions.  Also 
called  a  buttery -bar,  —  HalliwelVs  Arch,  and  Prov.  Words, 

If  any  scholar  or  scholars  at  any  time  take  away  or  detain  any 
vessel  of  the  colleges,  great  or  small,  from  the  hall  out  of  the  doors 
from  the  sight  of  the  buttery-hatch  without  the  butler's  or  servitor's 
knowledge,  or  against  their  will,  he  or  they  shall  be  punished  three 
pence.  —  Quincy^s  Hist.  Harv.  Coll.,  Vol.  I.  p.  584. 

He  (the  college  butler)  domineers  over  Freshmen,  when  they 
first  come  to  the  hatch.  —  Earless  Micro-cosmographie,  1628, 
Char.  17. 

There  was  a  small  ledging  or  bar  on  this  hatch  to  rest  the 
tankards  on. 

I  pray  you,  bring  your  hand  to  the  buttery-bar,  and  let  it  drink. 
—  Twelfth  Night,  Act  i.  Sc.  3. 

BUCK.  At  Princeton  College,  any  thing  which  is  in  an  inten- 
sive degree  good,  excellent,  pleasant,  or  agreeable,  is  called 
buck. 

BYE-TERM.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  stu- 
dents who  take  the  degree  of  A.  B.  at  any  other  time  save 
January,  are  said  to  "  go  out  in  a  bye-term  " 


40  COLLEGE   WORDS 

C. 

CAHOOLE.  At  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  this  word 
in  its  application  is  almost  universal,  but  generally  signifies 
to  cajole,  to  wheedle,  to  deceive,  to  procure. 

CAMPUS.  At  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  the  college  yard  is 
denominated  the  Campus.     Back  Campus^  the  privies. 

CANTAB.     Abridged  for  Cantabrigian. 

It  was  transmitted  to  me  by  a  respectable  Cantab  for  insertion. 
—  Honeys  Every-day  Book,  Vol.  I.  p.  697. 

Should  all  this  be  a  mystery  to  our  uncollegiate  friends,  or  even 
to  many  matriculated  Cantabs,  we  advise  them  not  to  attempt  to 
unriddle  it.  —  Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  39. 

CANTABRIGIAN.  A  student  or  graduate  of  the  University 
of  Cambridge,  Eng.  Used  also  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  of  the 
students  and  inhabitants. 

CAP.     To  uncover  the  head  in  reverence  or  civility. 

The  youth,  ignorant  who  they  were,  had  omitted  to  cap  them. — 
Gent.  Mag-.,  Vol.  XXIV.  p.  567. 

I  could  not  help  smiling,  when,  among  the  dignitaries  whom  I 
was  bound  to  make  obeisance  to  by  capping  whenever  I  met  them, 
Mr.  Jackson's  catalogue  included  his  all-important  self  in  the  num- 
ber.— TAe  Eionian^YoL  II.  p.  217. 

Used  in  the  English  universities. 

CAPUT.  Latin,  the  head.  In  Cambridge,  Eng.,  a  council  of 
the  University,  by  which  every  grace  must  be  approved  be- 
fore it  can  be  submitted  to  the  senate.  It  consists  of  the 
Vice-Chancellor,  a  doctor  of  each  of  the  faculties  of  divinity, 
law,  and  medicine,  and  two*masters  of  arts,  chosen  annual- 
ly by  the  senate.  —  Webster.     Cam.  Cal. 

CARCER.     Latin.     In  German  schools   and   universities,  a 
prison.  —  Adler'*s  Germ,  and  Eng.  Did, 
2Bot(ten  ifjn  t^rauf  tie  Olumberger  ^erren 
2©it  nicl?W,  Vvc  nid?t^  in£f  <£  a  r  c  e  r  f)?erren. 

Wallenstein^s  Lager. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  41 

And  their  Nur'mberg  worships  swore  he  should  go 
To  jail  for  his  pains,  —  if  he  liked  it,  or  no. 

Trans.  Wallenstein' s  Camp,  in  Bohn^s  Stand.  Lib.,  p.  155. 

CAUTION  MONEY.  In  the  English  universities,  a  deposit 
in  the  hands  of  the  tutor  at  entrance  by  way  of  security.  In 
American  colleges,  a  bond  is  usually  given  by  a  student 
upon  entering  college,  in  order  to  secure  the  payment  of  all 
his  college  dues. 

CHAMBER.  The  apartment  of  a  student  at  a  college  or  uni- 
versity. This  word,  although  formerly  used  in  American 
colleges,  has  been  of  late  almost  entirely  supplanted  by  the 
word  room,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  it  is  here  noticed. 

If  any  of  them  choose  to  provide  themselves  with  breakfasts  in 
their  own  chambers,  they  are  allowed  so  to  do,  but  not  to  breakfast 
in  one  another's  chambers.  —  Quina/^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  II. 
p.  116. 

Some  ringleaders  gave  up  their  chambers.  —  Ibid..^  Vol.  11.  p.  116. 

CHAMBER-MATE.  One  who  inhabits  the  same  room  or 
chamber  with  another.  Formerly  used  at  our  colleges. 
The  word  Chum,  is  now  very  generally  used  in  its  place ; 
sometimes  room-mate  is  substituted. 

If  any  one  shall  refuse  to  find  his  proportion  of  furniture,  wood, 
and  candles,  the  President  and  Tutors  shall  charge  such  delinquent, 
in  his  quarter  bills,  his  full  proportion,  which  sum  shall  be  paid  to 
his  chamber-mate.  —  Laws  Harv.  Coll.,  1798,  p.  35. 

CHANCELLOR.  The  chancellor  of  a  university  is  an  offi- 
cer who  seals  the  diplomas,  or  letters  of  degree,  &c.  The 
^Chancellor  of  Oxford  is  usually  one  of  the  prime  nobility, 
elected  by  the  students  in  convocation ;  and  he  holds  the 
office  for  life.  He  is  the  chief  magistrate  in  the  government 
of  the  University.  The  Chancellor  of  Cambridge  is  also 
elected  from  among  the  prime  nobility ;  he  does  not  hold 
his  office  for  life,  but  may  be  elected  every  three  years.  — 
Wehster, 

CHAPEL.  A  house  for  public  worship,  erected  separate  from 
a   church.      In   England,    chapels   in   the   universities   are 

places  of  worship   belonging  to  particular  colleges.     The 

4* 


42  COLLEGE   WORDS 

chapels  connected  with  the  colleges  in  the  United  States 
are  used  for  the  same  purpose.  Religious  exercises  are 
usually  held  in  them,  twice  a  day,  morning  and  evening, 
besides  the  services  on  the  Sabbath. 

CHAPEL  CLERK.  At  Cambridge,  Eng.,  in  some  colleges, 
it  is  the  duty  of  this  officer  to  mark  the  students  as  they 
enter  chapel ;  in  others  he  merely  sees  that  the  proper  les- 
sons are  read,  by  the  students  appointed  by  the  Dean  for  that 
purpose.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab, 

CHAPLAIN.  In  universities  and  colleges,  the  clergyman 
who  performs  divine  service,  morning  and  evening. 

CHAW.     A  deception  or  trick. 

To  say,  "  It 's  all  a  gum,"  or  **  a  regular  chaw,'*''  is  the  same 
thing.—  TAe  Dartmouth,  Vol.  IV.  p.  117. 

CHAW.     To  use  up. 

Yesterday  a  Junior  cracked  a  joke  on  me,  when  all  standing 
round  shouted  in  great  glee,  *'  Chawed  !  Freshman  chawed  !  Ha ! 
ha  !  ha !  "  *'  No  I  a'n't  chawed,''''  said  I,  "  I  'm  as  whole  as  ever." 
But  I  did  n't  understand,  when  a  fellow  is  used  up,  he  is  said  to  be 
chawed;  if  very  much  used  up,  he  is  said  to  be  essentially  chawed. 
—  The  Dartmouth,  Vol.  IV.  p.  117. 

The  verb  to  chaw  up  is  used  with  nearly  the  same  mean- 
ing in  some  of  the  Western  States. 

Miss  Patience  said  she  was  gratified  to  hear  Mr.  Cash  was  a 
musician  ;  she  admired  people  who  had  a  musical  taste.  Where- 
upon Cash  fell  into  a  chair,  as  he  afterwards  observed,  chawed  up. 
Thorpe^ s  Backwoods,  p.  28. 

CHIP  DAY.  At  Williams  College  a  day  near  the  beginning 
of  spring  is  thus  designated,  and  is  explained  in  the  follow- 
ing passage.  "  They  give  us,  near  the  close  of  the  second 
term,  what  is  called  '  chip  day,"*  when  we  put  the  grounds  in 
order,  and  remove  the  ruins  caused  by  a  winter's  siege  on 
the  wood-piles."  —  Sketches  of  Williams  College,  p.  79. 

CHORE.  In  the  German  universities,  a  club  or  society  of 
the  students  is  thus  designated. 

Duels  between  members  of  different  chores  were  once  frequent ; 


AND    CUSTOBIS.  43 

—  sometimes  one  man  was  obliged  to  fight  the  members  of  a  whole 
chore  in  succession.  —  Yale  Lit.  Mag,,  Vol.  XV.  p.  5. 
CHUM.  Armenian,  chomm^  or  chommein^  or  ham^  to  dwell, 
stay,  or  lodge  ;  French,  chdmer,  to  rest;  Saxon,  ham,  home. 
A  chamber-fellow  ;  one  who  lodges  or  resides  in  the  same 
room.  —  Webster. 

This  word  is  used  at  the  universities  and  colleges,  both  in 
England  and  the  United  States. 

A  young  student  laid  a  wager  with  his  chum,  that  the  Dean  was 
at  that  instant  smoking  his  pipe.  —  Philip'' s  Life  and  Poems,  p.  13. 

But  his  chum 
Had  wielded,  in  his  just  defence, 
A  bowl  of  vast  circumference.  — Rehelliad,  p.  17. 
I  am  again  your  petitioner  in  behalf  of  that  great  chum  of  litera- 
ture, Samuel  Johnson.  —  Smollett,  in  Boswell. 

In  this  last  instance,  the  word  chum  is  used  either  with  the 
more  extending  meaning  of  companion,  friend,  or,  as  the 
sovereign  prince  of  Tartary  is  called  the  Cham  or  Khan^  so 
Johnson  is  called  the  chum  (cham)  or  prince  of  literature. 

CHUM.     To  occupy  a  chamber  with  another. 
CHUMMING.     Occupying  a  room  with  another. 

Such  is  one  of  the  evils  of  chumming.  —  Harvardiana,  Vol.  I. 
p.  324. 

CLASS.  A  number  of  students  in  a  college  or  school,  of 
the  same  standing,  or  pursuing  the  same  studies.  In  col- 
leges, the  students  entering  or  becoming  members  the  same 
year,  and  pursuing  the  same  studies.  —  Wehster. 

In  the  University  of  Oxford,  class  is  the  division  of  the 
candidates  who  are  examined  for  their  degrees  according  to 
their  rate  of  merit.  Those  who  are  entitled  to  this  distinc- 
tion are  denominated  classmen.^  answering  to  the  optimes  and 
wranglers  in  the  University  of  Cambridge.  —  CraWs  Tech, 
Diet. 

See  an  interesting  account  of  "reading  for  a  first  class," 
in  the  Collegian's  Guide,  Chap.  XII. 

CLASS.  To  place  in  ranks  or  divisions  students  that  are  pur- 
suing the  same  studies ;  to  form  into  a  class  or  classes.  — 
Wehster, 


44  COLLEGE   WORDS 

CLASS  BOOK.  Within  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years,  a 
custom  has  arisen  at  Harvard  College  of  no  small  importance 
in  a  historical  point  of  view,  but  which  is  principally  deserv- 
ing of  notice  from  the  many  pleasing  associations  to  which 
its  observance  cannot  fail  to  give  rise.  Every  graduating 
class  procures  a  beautiful  and  substantial  folio  of  many  hun- 
dred pages,  called  the  Class  Book^  and  lettered  with  the 
year  of  the  graduation  of  the  class.  In  this  a  certain  number 
of  pages  is  allotted  to  each  individual  of  the  class,  in  which  he 
inscribes  a  brief  autobiography,  paying  particular  attention 
to  names  and  dates.  The  book  is  then  deposited  in  the 
hands  of  the  Class  Secretary^  whose  duty  it  is  to  keep  a  faith- 
ful record  of  the  marriage,  birth  of  children,  and  death  of 
each  of  his  classmates,  together  with  their  various  places  of 
residence,  and  the  offices  and  honors  to  which  each  may 
have  attained.  This  information  is  communicated  to  him 
by  letter  by  his  classmates,  and  he  is  in  consequence  pre- 
pared to  answer  any  inquiries  relative  to  any  member  of  the 
class.  At  his  death,  the  book  passes  into  the  hands  of  one 
of  the  Class  Committee^  and  at  their  death,  into  those  of 
some  surviving  member  of  the  class,  and  when  the  class  has 
at  length  become  extinct,  it  is  deposited  on  the  shelves  of 
the  College  Library. 

The  Class  Book  also  contains  a  full  list  of  all  persons 
who  have  at  any  time  been  members  of  the  class,  together 
with  such  information  as  can  be  gathered  in  reference  to 
them  ;  and  the  prizes,  deturs,  parts  at  Exhibitions  and  Com- 
mencement, degrees,  etc.,  of  all  its  members.  Into  it  are 
also  copied  the  Class  Oration,  Poem,  and  Ode,  and  the  Sec- 
retary's report  of  the  class  meeting,  at  which  the  officers 
were  elected.  It  is  also  intended  to  contain  the  records  of 
all  future  class  meetings,  and  the  accounts  of  the  Class  Sec- 
retary, who  is  ex  officio  Class  Treasurer  and  Chairman  of 
the  Class  Committee.  By  virtue  of  his  office  of  Class 
Treasurer,  he  procures  the  Cradle  for  the  successful  candi- 
date, and  keeps  in  his  possession  the  Class  Fund,  which  is 
sometimes  raised  to  defray  the  accruing  expenses  of  the 
Class  in  future  times. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  45 

In  the  Harvardiana,  Vol.  IV.,  is  an  extract  from  the  Class 
Book  of  1838,  which  is  very  Curious  and  unique.  To  this 
is  appended  the  following  note.  "  It  may  be  necessary  to 
inform  many  of  our  readers,  that  the  Class  Book  is  a  large 
volume,  in  which  autobiographical  sketches  of  the  members 
of  each  graduating  class  are  recorded,  and  which  is  left  in 
the  hands  of  the  Class  Secretary." 

CLASS  CAP.  At  Hamilton  College,  it  is  customary  for  the 
Sophomores  to  appear  in  a  class  cap  on  the  Junior  Exhibi- 
tion day,  which  is  worn  generally  during  part  of  the  third 
term. 

CLASS  COMMITTEE.  At  Harvard  College  a  committee  of 
two  persons,  joined  with  the  Class  Secretary^  who  is  ex 
officio  its  chairman,  whose  duty  it  is,  after  the  class  has 
graduated,  during  their  lives  to  call  class  meetings,  when- 
ever they  deem  it  advisable,  and  to  attend  to  all  other  busi- 
ness relating  to  the  class. 
See  under  Class  Book. 

CLASS  CRADLE.  For  some  years  it  has  been  customary  at 
Harvard  College  for  the  Senior  Class,  at  the  meeting  for  the 
election  of  the  officers  of  Class  Day,  &c.,  to  appropriate  a 
certain  sum  of  money,  usually  not  exceeding  fifty  dollars, 
for  the  purchase  of  a  cradle,  to  be  given  to  the  first  member 
of  the  class  to  whom  a  child  is  born  in  lawful  wedlock  at  a 
suitable  time  after  marriage.  This  sum  is  intrusted  to  the 
hands  of  the  Class  Secretary^  who  is  expected  to  transmit 
the  present  to  the  successful  candidate  upon  the  receipt  of 
the  requisite  information.  In  one  instance  a  Bahy-jumper 
was  voted  by  the  class,  to  be  given  to  the  second  member 
who  should  be  blessed  as  above  stated. 

CLASS  DAY.  The  custom  at  Harvard  College  of  observing 
with  appropriate  exercises  the  day  on  which  the  Senior 
Class  finish  their  studies,  is  of  a  very  early  date.  The  first 
notice  which  appears  in  reference  to  this  subject  is  con- 
tained in  an  account  of  the  disorders  which  began  to  prevail 
among  the  students  about  the  year  1760r  Among  the  evils 
to  be  remedied  are  mentioned  the  "  disorders  upon  the  day 


46  COLLEGE   WORDS 

of  the  Senior  Sophisters  meeting  to  choose  the  officers  of 
the  class,"  when  "  it  was  usual  for  each  scholar  to  bring  a 
bottle  of  wine  with  him,  which  practice  the  committee  (that 
reported  upon  it)  apprehend  has  a  natural  tendency  to 
produce  disorders."  But  the  disturbances  were  not  wholly 
confined  to  the  meeting  when  the  officers  of  Class  Day  were 
chosen  ;  they  occurred  also  on  Class  Day,  and  it  was  for  this 
reason  that  frequent  attempts  were  made  at  this  period,  by 
the  College  government,  to  suppress  its  observance.  How 
far  their  effi^rts  succeeded  is  not  known,  but  it  is  safe  to  con- 
clude that  greater  interruptions  were  occasioned  by  the  war 
of  the  Revolution,  than  by  the  attempts  to  abolish  what  it 
would  have  been  wiser  to  have  reformed. 

In  a  MS.  Journal,  under  date  of  June  21st4J.!Z%l,  is  the 
following  entry  :  "  Neither  the  valedictory  oration  by  Ward, 
nor  poem  by  Walton,  was  delivered,  on  account  of  a  division 
in  the  class,  and  also  because  several  were  gone  home." 
How  long  previous  to  this  the  21st  of  June  had  been  the 
day  chosen  for  the  exercises  of  the  class,  is  uncertain  ;  but 
for  many  years  after,  unless  for  special  reasons,  this  period 
was  regularly  selected  for  that  purpose.  Another  extract 
from  the  MS.  above  mentioned,  under  date  of  June  21st, 
1792,  reads  :  "A  valedictory  poem  was  delivered  by  Paine 
1st,  and  a  valedictory  Latin  oration  by  Abiel  Abbott." 

The  biographer  of  Mr.  Robert  Treat  Paine,  referring  to 
the  poem  noticed  in  the  above  memorandum,  says  :  "  The 
21st  of  every  June,  till  of  late  years,  has  been  the  day  on 
which  the  members  of  the  Senior  Class  closed  their  collegiate 
studies,  and  retired  to  make  preparations  for  the  ensuing 
Commencement.  On  this  day  it  was  usual  for  one  member 
to  deliver  an  oration,  and  another  a  poem  ;  such  members 
being  appointed  by  their  classmates.  The  Valedictory 
Poem  of  Mr.  Paine,  a  tender,  correct,  and  beautiful  effiasion 
of  feeling  and  taste,  was  received  by  the  audience  with  ap- 
plause and  tears."  In  another  place  he  speaks  on  the  same 
subject,  as  follows :  "  The  solemnity  which  produced  this 
poem  is  extremely  interesting ;  and,  being  of  ancient  date, 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that   it  may  never  fall  into  disuse.     His 


AND    CUSTOMS.  47 

affection  for  the  University  Mr.  Paine  cherished,  as  one  of 
his  most  sacred  principles.  Of  this  poem,  Mr.  Paine  always 
spoke  as  one  of  his  happiest  efforts.  Coming  from  so  young 
a  man,  it  is  certainly  very  creditable,  and  promises  more,  I 
fear,  than  the  untoward  circumstances  of  his  after  life  would 
permit  him  to  perform."  —  Paine* s  Works^  pp.  xxvii.,  439, 
ed.  1812. 

An  account  of  Class  Day,  near  the  close  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, may  not  be  uninteresting.  It  is  from  the  Diary  which 
is  above  referred  to.  ^..^-^ 

"  20th  (Thursday).  This  day  for  special  reasons  the  vale- 
dictory poem  and  oration  were  performed.  The  order  of  the 
day  was  this.     At  ten,  the  class  walked  in  procession  to  the  ^ 

President's,  and  escorted  him,  the  Professors,  and  Tutors,  to    ^  ^  0 
the  Chapel,  preceded  by  the  band  playing  solemn  music.  y^ 

"  The  President  began  with  a   short   prayer.     He  then         /\\ 
read  a  chapter  in  the  Bible  ;   after  this  he   prayed  again  ;  ^ 

Cutler  then  delivered  his  poem.     Then  the  singing  club,        i      # 
accompanied  by  the  band,  performed  Williams's  Friendship,  y 

This  was  succeeded  by  a  valedictory  Latin  Oration  by  Jack-  |\ 

son.  We  then  formed,  and  waited  on  the  government  to 
the  President's,  where  we  were  very  respectably  treated  with 
wine,  &;c. 

''  We  then  marched  in  procession  to  Jackson's  room, 
where  we  drank  punch.  At  one  we  went  to  Mr.  Moore's 
tavern  and  partook  of  an  elegant  entertainment,  which  cost 
6/4  a  piece.  Marching  then  to  Cutler's  room,  we  shook 
hands,  and  parted  with  expressing  the  sincerest  tokens  of 
friendship."     June,  }793. 

Alterations  were  continually  made  in  the  observances  o#» 
Class  Day,  and  in  twenty  years  after  the  period  last  men- 
tioned, its  character  had  in  many  particulars  changed.  In- 
stead of  the  Latin,  an  English  oration  of  a  somewhat  sport- 
ive nature  had  been  introduced ;  the  Poem  was  either  serious 
or  comic,  at  the  writer's  option,  usually,  however,  the  former. 
After  the  exercises  in  the  Chapel,  the  class  commonly  re- 
paired to  Porter's  Hall,  and  there  partook  of  a  dinner,  not 
always  observing  with  perfect  strictness  the  rules  of  tem- 


48  COLLEGE    WORDS 

perance  either  in  eating  or  drinking.  This  "  cenobitical 
symposium  "  concluded,  they  again  returned  to  the  college 
yard,  where,  scattered  in  groups  under  the  trees,  the  rest  of 
the  day  was  spent  in  singing,  smoking,  and  drinking,  or  pre- 
tending to  drink,  punch ;  for  the  negroes  who  supplied  it  in 
pails  usually  contrived  to  take  two  or  more  glasses  to  every 
one  glass  that  was  drank  by  those  for  whom  it  was  provided. 
The  dance  around  the  Liberty  Tree, 

*'  Each  hand  in  comrade's  hand," 
closed  the  regular  ceremonies  of  the  day ;  but  generally  the 
greater  part  of  the  succeeding  night  was  spent  in  feasting 
and  hilarity. 

The  punch-drinking  in  the  yard  increased  to  such  an  ex- 
tent, that  it  was  considered  by  the  government  of  the  college 
as  a  matter  which  demanded  their  interference  ;  and  in  the 
year  1842,  on  one  of  these  occasions,  an  instructor  having 
joined  with  the  students  in  their  revel  lings  in  the  yard,  the 
Faculty  proposed  that,  instead  of  spending  the  afternoon  in 
this  manner,  dancing  should  be  introduced,  which  was  ac- 
cordingly done,  with  the  approbation  of  both  parties. 
^^The  observances  of  the  day,  which  in  a  small  way  may 
be  considered  as  a  rival  of  Commencement,  are  at  present 
as  follows.  The  Orator,  Poet,  Odist,  Chaplain,  and  Mar- 
shals having  been  previously  chosen,  on  the  morning  of 
Class  Day,  the  Seniors  assemble  in  the  yard,  and,  preceded 
by  the  band,  walk  in  procession  to  one  of  the  halls  of  the 
College,  where  a  prayer  is  offered  by  the  Class  Chaplain. 
They  then  proceed  to  the  President's  house,  and  escort  him 
to  the  Chapel,  where  the  following  order  is  observed.  A 
prayer  by  one  of  the  College  officers  is  succeeded  by  the 
Oration,  in  which  the  transactions  of  the  class  from  their 
entrance  into  College  to  the  present  time  are  reviewed  with 
witty  and  appropriate  remarks.  The  Poem  is  then  pro- 
nounced, followed  by  the  Ode,  which  is  sung  by  the  whole 
class  to  the  tune  of  "Fair  Harvard."  Music  is  performed 
at  intervals  by  the  band.  The  class  then  withdraw  to  Har- 
vard Hall,  accompanied  by  their  friends  and  invited  guests, 
where  a  rich  collation  is  providedr* 


AND    CUSTOMS.  49 

After  an  interval  of  from  one  to  two  hours,  the  dancing 
commences  in  the  yard.  Cotillions  and  the  easier  dances 
are  here  performed,  but  the  sport  closes  in  the  hall  with  the 
Polka  and  other  fashionable  steps.  The  Seniors  again  form, 
and  make  the  circuit  of  the  yard,  cheering  the  buildings,  great 
and  small.  They  then  assemble  under  the  Liberty  Tree, 
around  which  with  hands  joined  they  dance,  after  singing  the 
student's  adopted  song,  "  Auld  Lang  Syne."  At  parting, 
each  member  takes  a  sprig  or  a  flower  from  the  beautiful 
"  Wreath  "  which  surrounds  the  "  farewell  tree,"  which  is 
sacredly  treasured  as  a  last  memento  of  college  scenes  and 
enjoyments.  Thus  close  the  exercises  of  the  day,  after 
which  the  class  separate  until  Commencement. 

CLASSIS.  Same  meaning  as  Class.  The  Latin  for  the  Eng- 
lish. 

[They  shall]  observe  the  generall  hours  appointed  for  all  the  stu- 
dents, and  the  speciall  houres  for  their  own  classis.  —  New  Eng- 
land's First  Fruits,  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  I.  p.  243. 

CLASS  LIST.  In  the  University  of  Oxford,  a  list  in  which 
are  entered  the  names  of  those  who  are  examined  for  their 
degrees,  according  to  their  rate  of  merit. 

There  are  some  men  who  read  for  honors  in  that  covetous  and  con- 
tracted spirit,  and  so  bent  upon  securing  the  name  of  scholarship, 
even  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  reality,  that,  for  the  pleasure  of  reading 
their  names  at  the  top  of  the  class  list,  they  would  make  the  exam- 
iners a  present  of  all  their  Latin  and  Greek  the  moment  they  left 
the  schools. —  The  Collegian's  Guide,  p.  327. 

CLASSMAN.     See  Class. 

CLASSMATE.     A  member  of  the  same  class  with  another.     ' 

The  day  is  wound  up  with  a  scene  of  careless  laughter  and  merri- 
ment, among  a  dozen  of  joke-loving  classmates.  —  Harv.  Reg., 
p.  202. 

CLASS  MEETING.  A  meeting  where  all  the  class  are  as- 
sembled for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  some  measure, 
appointing  class  officers,  or  transacting  business  of  interest 
to  the  whole  class. 

5 


50  COLLEGE    WORDS 

In  Harvard  College,  no  class,  or  general,  or  other  meet- 
ing of  students  can  be  called  without  an  application  in  writ- 
ing of  three  students,  and  no  more,  expressing  the  purpose 
of  such  meeting,  nor  otherwise  than  by  a  printed  notice, 
signed  by  the  President,  expressing  the  time,  the  object,  and 
place  of  such  meeting,  and  the  three  students  applying  for 
such  meeting  are  held  responsible  for  any  proceedings  at  it 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  College.  —  Laws  TJniv,  Cam,^ 
Mass.^  1848,  Appendix. 

While  one,  on  fame  alone  intent, 
Seeks  to  be  chosen  President 
Of  clubs,  or  a  class  meeting. 

Harv.  Reg.,  p.  247. 

CLASSOLOGY.  That  subject  which  treats  of  the  members 
of  the  classes  of  a  college.  This  word  is  used  in  the  title 
of  a  pleasant  jeu  d^esprit  by  Mr.  William  Biglow,  on  the 
class  which  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1792.  It  is 
called  "  Classology :  an  Anacreontic  Ode,  in  Imitation  of 
'  Heathen  Mythology.' " 
See  under  High  Go. 

CLASS  SECRETARY.  For  an  account  of  this  officer,  see 
under  Class  Book. 

CLASS  SUPPER.  In  American  colleges,  a  supper  attended 
only  by  the  members  of  a  collegiate  class.  Class  suppers 
are  given  in  some  colleges  at  the  close  of  each  year ;  in 
others,  only  at  the  close  of  the  Sophomore  and  Senior 
years,  or  at  one  of  these  periods. 

CLIMBING.  In  reference  to  this  word,  a  correspondent  from 
Dartmouth  College  writes :  "  At  the  commencement  of  this 
century,  the  Greek,  Latin,  and  Philosophical  Orations  were 
assigned  by  the  Faculty  to  the  best  scholars,  while  the 
Valedictorian  was  chosen  from  the  remainder  by  his  class- 
mates. It  was  customary  for  each  one  of  these  four  to  treat 
his  classmates,  which  was  called  '  Climbing,'*  from  the  effect 
which  the  liquor  would  have  in  elevating  the  class  to  an 
equality  with  the  first  scholars." 


AND    CUSTOMS.  M 

COAX.  This  word  was  formerly  used  at  Yale  College  in  the 
some  sense  as  the  word  fish  at  Harvard,  viz.  to  seek  or 
gain  the  favor  of  a  teacher  by  flattery.  One  of  the  Proverbs 
of  Solomon  was  often  changed  by  the  students  to  read  as 
follows.  "  Surely  the  churning  of  milk  bringeth  forth  but- 
ter, and  the  wringing  of  the  nose  bringeth  forth  blood  ;  so 
the  coaxing  of  tutors  bringeth  forth  parts."  —  Prov.  xxx. 
33. 

COLLAR.  At  Yale  College,  "  to  come  up  with  ;  to  seize  ;  to 
lay  hold  on  ;  to  appropriate."  —  Yale  Lit,  Mag.^  Vol.  XIV. 
p.  144. 

By  that  means  the  oration  marks  will  be  effectually  collared,  with 
scarce  an  effort.  — .  Yale  Banger^  Oct.  1848. 

COLLECTION.  In  the  University  of  Oxford,  a  college  ex- 
amination, which  takes  place  at  the  end  of  every  term  be- 
fore the  Warden  and  Tutor. 

Read  some  Herodotus  for  Collections. —  The  Etonian,  Vol.  IT. 
p.  348. 

COLLECTOR.  A  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford, who  is  appointed  to  superintend  some  scholastic  pro- 
ceedings in  Lent.  —  Todd, 

COLLECTORSHIP.  The  office  of  a  collector  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford.  —  Todd. 

This  Lent  the  collectors  ceased  from  entertaining  the  Bachelors 
by  advice  and  command  of  the  proctors  ;  so  that  now  they  got  by 
their  collector shi'ps,  whereas  before  they  spent  about  100/.,  besides 
their  gains,  on  clothes  or  needless  entertainments. — Life  of  A. 
Wood,  p.  286. 

COLLEGE.  Latin,  collegium ;  con  and  lego,  to  gather.  In 
its  primary  sense,  a  collection  or  assembly  ;  hence  in  a  gen- 
eral sense,  a  collection,  assemblage,  or  society  of  men,  in- 
vested with  certain  powers  and  rights,  performing  certain 
duties,  or  engaged  in  some  common  employment  or  pur- 
suit. 

1.  An  establishment  or  edifice  appropriated  to  the  use  of 
students  who  are  acquiring  the  languages  and  sciences. 

2.  The   society   of  persons  engaged  in   the  pursuits   of 


52  COLLEGE   WORDS 

literature,  including  the  officers  and  students.  Societies  of 
this  kind  are  incorporated  and  endowed  with  revenues. 

"  A  college,  in  the  modern  sense  of  that  word,  was  an  in- 
stitution which  arose  within  a  university,  probably  ^vithin 
that  of  Paris  or  of  Oxford  first,  being  intended  either  as  a 
kind  of  boarding-school,  or  for  the  support  of  scholars  desti- 
tute of  means,  who  were  here  to  live  under  particular  super- 
vision. By  degrees  it  became  more  and  more  the  custom 
that  teachers  should  be  attached  to  these  establishments. 
And  as  they  grew  in  favor,  they  were  resorted  to  by  persons 
of  means,  who  paid  for  their  board  ;  and  this  to  such  a  de- 
gree, that  at  one  time  the  colleges  included  nearly  all  the 
members  of  the  University  of  Paris.  In  the  English  uni- 
versities the  colleges  may  have  been  first  established  by  a 
master  who  gathered  pupils  around  him,  for  whose  board 
and  instruction  he  provided.  He  exercised  them  perhaps  in 
logic  and  the  other  liberal  arts,  and  repeated  the  university 
lectures  as  well  as  superintended  their  morals.  As  his 
scholars  grew  in  number,  he  associated  with  himself  other 
teachers,  who  thus  acquired  the  name  o^  fellows.  Thus  it 
naturally  happened  that  the  government  of  colleges,  even  of 
those  which  were  founded  by  the  benevolence  of  pious  per- 
sons, was  in  the  hands  of  a  principal  called  by  various 
names,  such  as  rector,  president,  provost,  or  master,  and  of 
fellows,  all  of  whom  were  resident  within  the  walls  of  the 
same  edifices  where  the  students  lived.  Where  charitable 
munificence  went  so  far  as  to  provide  for  the  support  of  a 
greater  number  of  fellows  than  were  needed,  some  of  them 
were  intrusted,  as  tutors,  with  the  instruction  of  the  under- 
graduates, while  others  performed  various  services  within 
their  college,  or  passed  a  life  of  learned  leisure." —  Pres, 
Woohey''s  Hist.  Disc,  New  Haven,  Aug.  14,  1850,  p.  8. 

3.  In  foreign  universities^  a  public  lecture.  —  Wthster. 

COLLEGE  BIBLE.     The  laws  of  a  college  are   sometimes 
significantly  called  the  College  Bihle. 

He  cons  the  College  Bible  with  eager,  longing  eyes, 
And  wonders  how  poor  students  at  six  o'clock  can  rise. 

Poem  before  ladma  of  Harv.  Coll.,  1850. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  53 

COLLEGER.     A  member  of  a  college. 

We  stood  like  veteran  collegers  the  next  day's  screw.  —  Harvar- 
didna,  Vol.  III.  p.  9.     [Little  used.] 

COLLEGE  YARD.  The  inclosure  on  or  within  which  the 
buildings  of  a  college  are  situated.  Although  college  in- 
closures  are  usually  open  for  others  to  pass  through  than 
those  connected  with  the  college,  yet  by  law  the  grounds 
are  as  private  as  those  connected  with  private  dwellings,  and 
are  kept  so,  by  refusing  entrance  for  a  certain  period,  to  all 
who  are  not  members  of  the  college,  at  least  once  in  twenty 
years,  although  the  time  differs  in  different  States. 

But  when  they  got  to  College  yard, 

With  one  accord  they  all  huzza'd.  —  Rebelliad,  p.  33. 
Not  ye,  whom  science  never  taught  to  roam 
Far  as  a  College  yard  or  student's  home. 

Harv,  Reg.,  p.  232. 

COLLEGIAN.  A  member  of  a  college,  particularly  of  a 
literary  institution  so  called  ;  an  inhabitant  of  a  college.  — 
Johnson, 

COLLEGIATE.    Pertaining  to  a  college  ;  as,  collegiate  studies. 
2.  Containing  a  college ;    instituted  after  the  manner  of 
a  college  ;  as,  a  collegiate  society.  —  Johnson, 

COLLEGIATE.     A  member  of  a  college. 

COACH.  In  the  English  universities,  this  term  is  variously  ap- 
plied, as  will  be  seen  by  a  reference  to  the  annexed  examples. 

Every  thing  is  (or  used  to  be)  called  a  "  coach  "  at  Oxford  :  a 
lecture-class,  or  a  club  of  men  meeting  to  take  wine,  luncheon,  or 
breakfast  alternately,  were  severally  called  a  '*  wine,  luncheon,  or 
breakfast  coach  "  ;  so  a  private  tutor  was  called  a  *'  private  coax:^h  "  ; 
and  one,  like  Hilton  of  Worcester,  very  famed  for  getting  his  men 
safe  through,  was  termed  '*  a  Patent  Safety." —  The  Collegian's 
Guide,  p.  103. 

It  is  to  his  private  tutors,  or  '*  coaches,'^''  that  he  looks  for  instruc- 
tion.—  Household  Words,  Vol.  II.  p.  160. 

He   applies  to  Mr.  Crammer.     Mr.   Crammer  is  a  celebrated 
"  coach  "  for  lazy  and  stupid  men,  and  has  a  system  of  his  own 
which  has  met  with  decided  success. —  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.  p.  162. 
5* 


54  COLLEGE  WORDS 

COACHING.  A  cant  term,  in  the  British  universities,  for  pre- 
paring a  student,  by  the  assistance  of  a  private  tutor,  to  pass 
an  examination. 

Whether  a  man  shall  throw  away  every  opportunity  which  a 
university  is  so  eminently  calculated  to  afford,  and  come  away  with 
a  mere  testamur  gained  rather  by  the  trickery  of  private  coaching 
(tutoring)  than  by  mental  improvement,  depends,  &c.  —  The  Col- 
legian's Guide,  p.  15. 

COMBINATION.  An  agreement,  for  effecting  some  object, 
by  joint  operation  ;  in  an  ill  sense,  when  the  purpose  is  illegal 
or  iniquitous.  An  agreement  entered  into  by  students  to 
resist  or  disobey  the  Faculty  of  the  College,  or  to  do  any  un- 
lawful act,  is  a  combination.  When  the  number  concerned 
is  so  great  as  to  render  it  inexpedient  to  punish  all,  those 
most  culpable  are  usually  selected,  or  as  many  as  are 
deemed  necessary  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  justice.  —  Laws 
Yale  Coll,  1837,  p.  27.  Laws  Univ.  Cam.,  Mass.,  1848, 
p.  23. 

COMBINATION  ROOM.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
Eng.,  a  room  into  which  the  fellows  withdraw  after  dinner, 
for  wine,  dessert,  and  conversation.  —  Webster. 

COMMEMORATION  DAY.  At  the  University  of  Oxford, 
Eng.,  this  day  is  an  annual  solemnity  in  honor  of  the  bene- 
factors of  the  University,  when  orations  are  delivered,  and 
prize  compositions  are  read  in  the  theatre.  It  is  the  great 
day  of  festivity  for  the  year.  —  Huber. 

At  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  there  is  always  a 
sermon  on  this  day.  The  lesson  which  is  read  in  the  course 
of  the  service  is  from  Ecclus.  xliv.  "  Let  us  now  praise 
famous  men,"  &;c.  It  is  "  a  day,"  says  the  Gradus  ad  Can- 
tabrigiam,  "  devoted  to  prayers,  and  good  living."  It  was 
formerly  called  Anniversary  Bay. 

COMMENCE.  To  take  a  degree,  or  the  first  degree,  in  a 
university  or  college.  —  Bailey. 

Nine  Bachelors  commenced  at  Cambridge  ;  they  were  young  men 
of  good  hope,  and  performed  their  acts  so  as  to  give  good  proof  of 
their  proficiency  in  the  tongues  and  arts.  —  Winthrop^s  Journal,  by 
Mr.  Savage,  Vol.  II.  p.  87. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  55 

Four  Senior  Sophist  ers  came  from  Say  brook,  and  received  the 
Degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  several  others  commenced  Mas- 
ters. —  Clafs  Hist.  Yale  Coll.,  p.  20. 

A  scholar  see  him  now  commence 
Without  the  aid  of  books  or  sense. 

TrumbuWs  Progress  of  Dulness,  1794,  p.  12. 

COMMENCEMENT.     The  time  when  students  in  colleges  V 
commence  bachelors  ;  a  day  in  which  degrees  are  publicly 
conferred   in   the   English    and    American   universities.  — 
Webster, 

At  Harvard  College,  in  its  earliest  days,  Commencements 
were  attended,  as  at  present,  by  the  highest  officers  in  the 
State.  At  the  first  Commencement  on  the  second  Tuesday 
of  August,  1642,  we  are  told  that  "  the  Governour,  Magis- 
trates, and  the  Ministers,  from  all  parts,  with  all  sorts  of 
schoUars,  and  others  in  great  numbers  were  present."  — 
New  England^s  First  Fruits^  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  I. 
p.  246. 

In  the  MS.  Diary  of  Judge  Sewall,  under  date  of  July  1, 
1685,  Commencement  Day,  is  this  remark :  "  Gov'r  there, 
whom  I  accompanied  to  Charlestown  "  ;  and  again,  under 
date  of  July  2,  1690,  is  the  following  entry  respecting  the 
Commencement  of  that  year  :  "  Go  to  Cambridge  by  water 
in  y°  Barge  wherein  the  Gov'r,  Maj.  Gen'l,  Capt.  Black- 
well,  and  others."  In  the  Private  Journal  of  Cotton  Mather, 
under  the  dates  of  1708  and  1717,  there  are  notices  of 
the  Boston  troops  waiting  on  the  Governor  to  Cambridge 
on  Commencement  Day.  During  the  presidency  of  Wads- 
worth,  which  continued  from  1725  to  1737,  "  it  was  the  cus- 
tom," says  Quincy,  "  on  Commencement  Day,  for  the 
Governor  of  the  Province  to  come  from  Boston  through 
Roxbury,  often  by  the  way  of  Watertown,  attended  by  his 
body  guards,  and  to  arrive  at  the  College  about  ten  or  eleven 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  A  procession  was  then  formed  of 
the  Corporation,  Overseers,  magistrates,  ministers,  and  in- 
vited gentlemen,  and  immediately  moved  from  Harvard 
Hall  to  the  Congregational  church."  After  the  exercises  of 
the  day  were  over,  the  students  escorted  the  Governor,  Cor- 


56  COLLEGE   WORDS 

poration,  and  Overseers,  in  procession,  to  the  President's 
house.  This  description  would  answer  very  well  for  the 
present  day,  by  adding  the  graduating  class  to  the  proces- 
sion, and  substituting  the  Boston  Lancers  as  an  escort,  in- 
stead of  the  "  body  guards." 

The  exercises  at  the  first  Commencement  are  stated  in 
New  England's  First  Fruits,  above  referred  to,  as  fol- 
lows :  —  "  Latine  and  Greeke  Orations,  and  Declamations^ 
and  Hebrew  Analysis,  Grammatical!,  Logicall,  and  Rhetori- 
call  of  the  Psalms  :  And  their  answers  and  disputations  in 
Logicall,  Ethicall,  Physical,  and  Metaphysicall  questions." 
At  Commencement  in  1685,  the  exercises  were,  besides  Dis- 
putes, four  Orations,  one  Latin,  two  Greek,  and  one  He- 
brew. In  the  presidency  of  Wadsworth,  above  referred  to, 
"  the  exercises  of  the  day,"  says  Quincy,  "  began  with  a 
short  prayer  by  the  President ;  a  salutatory  oration  in  Latin, 
by  one  of  the  graduating  class,  succeeded  ;  then  disputa- 
tions on  theses  or  questions  in  Logic,  Ethics,  and  Natural 
Philosophy  commenced.  When  the  disputation  terminated, 
one  of  the  candidates  pronounced  a  Latin  '  gratulatory  ora- 
tion.' The  graduating  class  were  then  called,  and,  after 
asking  leave  of  the  Governor  and  Overseers,  the  President 
conferred  the  Bachelor's  degree,  by  delivering  a  book  to  the 
candidates  (who  came  forward  successively  in  parties  of 
four),  and  pronouncing  a  form  of  words  in  Latin.  An  ad- 
journment then  took  place  to  dinner,  in  Harvard  Hall ;  from 
thence  the  procession  returned  to  the  church,  and,  after  the 
Masters'  disputations,  usually  three  in  number,  were  finished, 
their  degrees  were  conferred,  with  the  same  general  forms 
as  those  of  the  Bachelors.  An  occasional  address  was  then 
made  by  the  President.  A  Latin  valedictory  oration  by  one 
of  the  Masters  succeeded,  and  the  exercises  concluded  with 
a  prayer  by  the  President." 

Similar  to  this  is  the  account  given  by  the  Hon.  Paine 
Wingate,  a  graduate  of  the  class  of  1759,  of  the  exercises 
of  Commencement  as  conducted  while  he  was  in  College. 
"  I  do  not  recollect  now,"  he  says,  "  any  part  of  the  public 
exercises  on  Commencement  Day  to  be  in  English,  except- 


AND   CUSTOMS.  57 

ing  the  President's  prayers  at  opening  and  closing  the  ser- 
vices. Next  after  the  prayer  followed  the  Salutatory  Oration 
in  Latin,  by  one  of  the  candidates  for  the  first  degree. 
This  ofRce  was  assigned  by  the  President,  and  was  supposed 
to  be  given  to  him  who  was  the  best  orator  in  the  class. 
Then  followed  a  Syllogistic  Disputation  in  Latin,  in  which 
four  or  five  or  more  of  those  who  were  distinguished  as 
good  scholars  in  the  class  were  appointed  by  the  President 
as  Respondents,  to  whom  was  assigned  certain  questions 
which  the  Respondents  maintained,  and  the  rest  of  the  class 
severally  opposed,  and  endeavored  to  invalidate.  This  was 
conducted  wholly  in  Latin,  and  in  the  form  of  Syllogisms 
and  Theses.  At  the  close  of  the  Disputation,  the  President 
usually  added  some  remarks  in  Latin.  After  these  exer- 
cises the  President  conferred  the  degrees.  This,  I  think, 
may  be  considered  as  the  summary  of  the  public  perform- 
ances on  a  Commencement  Day.  I  do  not  recollect  any 
Forensic  Disputation,  or  a  Poem  or  Oration  spoken  in  Eng- 
lish whilst  I  was  in  College."  —  Peirce^s  Hist,  Harv,  Univ.y 
pp.  307,  308. 

As  far  back  as  the  year  1685,  it  was  customary  for  the 
President  to  deliver  an  address  near  the  close  of  the  exer- 
cises. Under  this  date,  in  the  MS.  Diary  of  Judge  Sewall, 
are  these  words  :  "  Mr.  President  after  giving  y^  Degrees 
made  an  Oration  in  Praise  of  Academical  Studies  and  De- 
grees, Plebrew  tongue."  In  1688,  at  the  Commencement, 
according  to  the  same  gentleman,  Mr.  William  Hubbard, 
then  acting  as  President  under  the  appointment  of  Sir  Ed- 
mund Andros,  "  made  an  oration." 

The  disputations  were  always  in  Latin,  and  continued  to 
be  a  part  of  the  exercises  of  Commencement  until  the  year 
1820.  The  orations  were  in  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  and 
sometimes  French;  in  1818  a  Spanish  oration  was  delivered 
at  the  Commencement  for  that  year.  The  first  English 
oration  was  made  by  Mr.  Jedidiah  Huntington,  in  the  year 
1763.  The  last  Latin  syllogisms  were  in  1792,  on  the  sub- 
jects "  Materia  cogitare  non  potest "  and  "  Nil  nisi  ignis 
natura  est  fluidum."     The  first  year  in  which  the  performers 


58  COLLEGE   WORDS 

spoke  without  a  prompter  was  1837.  There  were  no  Mas- 
ter's exercises  for  the  first  time  in  1844.  To  prevent  im- 
proprieties, in  the  year  1760,  "  the  duty  of  inspecting  the 
performances  on  the  day,"  says  Quincy,  "  and  expunging 
all  exceptionable  parts,  was  assigned  to  the  President ;  on 
whom  it  was  particularly  enjoined  '  to  put  an  end  to  the 
practice  of  addressing  the  female  sex.'"  At  a  later  pe- 
riod, in  1792,  by  referring  to  the  "  Order  of  the  Exercises 
of  Commencement,"  we  find  that  in  the  concluding  oration 
"  honorable  notice  is  taken,  from  year  to  year,  of  those  who 
have  been  the  principal  Benefactors  of  the  University." 
The  practice  is  now  discontinued. 

At  the  first  Commencement,  all  the  magistrates,  elders, 
and  invited  guests  who  were  present  "  dined,"  says  Win- 
throp  in  his  Journal,  Vol.  II.  pp.  87,  88,  '*  at  the  College 
with  the  scholars'  ordinary  commons,  which  was  done  on 
purpose  for  the  students'  encouragement,  &c.,  and  it  gave 
good  content  to  all."  After  dinner,  a  Psalm  was  usually 
-  sung.  In  1685,  at  Commencement,  Sewall  says  :  "  After 
dinner  y^  3d  part  of  y^  103d  Ps.  was  sung  in  y^  Hall." 
The  seventy-eighth  Psalm  was  the  one  usually  sung,  an  ac- 
count of  which  will  be  found  under  that  title.  The  Senior 
Class  usually  waited  on  the  table  on  Commencement  Day. 
After  dinner,  they  were  allowed  to  take  what  provisions 
were  left,  and  eat  them  at  their  rooms,  or  in  the  hall.  This 
custom  was  not  discontinued  until  the  year  1812. 

In  1754,  owing  to  the  expensive  habits  worn  on  Com- 
mencement Day,  a  law  was  passed,  ordering  that  on  that 
day  "  every  candidate  for  his  degree  appear  in  black,  or 
dark  blue,  or  gray  clothes;  and  that  no  one  wear  any  silk 
night-gowns ;  and  that  any  candidate,  who  shall  appear 
dressed  contrary  to  such  regulations,  may  not  expect  his  de- 
gree." At  present,  on  Commencement  Day,  every  candi- 
date for  a  first  degree  wears,  according  to  the  law,  "  a 
black  dress  and  the  usual  black  gown." 

It  was  formerly  customary,  on  this  day,  for  the  students  to 
provide  entertainment  in  their  rooms.  In  1722,  in  the  latter 
part   of   President    Leverett's   administration,   an   act   was 


AND    CUSTOMS.  59 

passed  ^'  for  reforming  the  Extravagancys  of  Commence- 
ments," and  providing  "  that  henceforth  no  preparation  nor 
provision  of  either  Plumb  Cake,  or  Roasted,  Boyled,  or 
Baked  Meates  or  Pyes  of  any  kind  shal  be  made  by  any 
Commencer,"  and  that  no  "  such  have  any  distilled  Ly- 
quours  in  his  Chamber  or  any  composition  therewith,"  under 
penalty  of  being  "  punished  twenty  shillings  to  be  paid  to 
the  use  of  the  College,"  and  of  forfeiture  of  the  provisions 
and  liquors,  "  to  he  seized  hy  the  tutors.'*'*  The  President 
and  Corporation  were  accustomed  to  visit  the  rooms  of  the 
Commencers,  "  to  see  if  the  laws  prohibiting  certain  meats 
and  drinks  were  not  violated."  These  restrictions  not  being 
sufficient,  a  vote  passed  the  Corporation  in  1727,  declaring, 
that  "  if  any,  who  now  doe,  or  hereafter  shall,  stand  for 
their  degrees,  presume  to  doe  any  thing  contrary  to  the  act 
of  1 1th  June,  1722,  or  go  about  to  evade  it  ly  plain  cake^ 
they  shall  not  be  admitted  to  their  degree,  and  if  any,  after 
they  have  received  their  degree,  shall  presume  to  make  any 
forbidden  provisions,  their  names  shall  be  left  or  rased  out 
of  the  Catalogue  of  the  Graduates."  In  1749,  the  Corpo- 
ration strongly  recommended  to  the  parents  and  guardians 
of  such  as  were  to  take  degrees  that  year,  "  considering  the 
awful  judgments  of  God  upon  the  land,"  to  "  retrench  Com- 
mencement expenses,  so  as  may  best  correspond  with  the 
frowns  of  Divine  Providence,  and  that  they  take  effectual 
care  to  have  their  sons'  chambers  cleared  of  company,  and 
their  entertainments  finished,  on  the  evening  of  said  Com- 
mencement Day,  or,  at  furthest,  by  next  morning."  In 
1755,  attempts  were  made  to  prevent  those  "  who  proceeded 
Bachelors  of  Arts  from  having  entertainments  of  any  kind, 
either  in  the  College  or  any  house  in  Cambridge,  after  the 
Commencement  Day."  This  and  several  other  propositions 
of  the  Overseers  failing  to  meet  with  the  approbation  of  the 
Corporation,  a  vote  finally  passed  both  boards  in  1757,  by 
which  it  was  ordered,  that,  on  account  of  the  "distressing 
drought  upon  the  land,"  and  "  in  consideration  of  the  dark 
state  of  Providence  with  respect  to  the  war  we  are  engaged 
in,  which  Providences  call  for  humiliation  and  fasting  rather 


60  COLLEGE    WORDS 

than  festival  entertainments,"  the  "  first  and  second  degrees 
be  given  to  the  several  candidates  without  their  personal  at- 
tendance "  ;  a  general  diploma  was  accordingly  given,  and 
Commencement  was  omitted  for  that  year.  Three  years 
after,  "  all  unnecessary  expenses  were  forbidden,"  and  also 
"  dancing  in  any  part  of  Commencement  week,  in  the  Hall, 
or  in  any  College  building ;  nor  was  any  undergraduate  al- 
lowed to  give  any  entertainment,  after  dinner,  on  Thursday 
of  that  week,  under  severe  penalties."  But  the  laws  were 
not  always  so  strict,  for  we  find  that,  on  account  of  a  propo- 
sition made  by  the  Overseers  to  the  Corporation  in  1759, 
recommending  a  "repeal  of  the  law  prohibiting  the  drink- 
ing of  j9MWcA,"  the  latter  board  voted,  that  "  it  shall  be  no 
offence  if  any  scholar  shall,  at  Commencement,  make  and 
entertain  guests  at  his  chamber  with  punch,'*''  which  they 
afterwards  declare,  "  as  it  is  now  usually  made,  is  no  intoxi- 
cating liquor." 

To  prevent  the  disturbances  incident  to  the  day,  an  attempt 
was  made  in  1727  to  have  the  "  Commencements  for  time 
to  come  more  private  than  has  been  usual,"  and  for  several 
years  after,  the  time  of  Commencement  was  concealed ; 
"  only  a  short  notice,"  says  Quincy,  "  being  given  to  the 
public  of  the  day  on  which  it  was  to  be  held."  Friday  was 
the  day  agreed  on,  for  the  reason,  says  President  Wadsworth 
in  his  Diary,  "  that  there  might  be  a  less  remaining  time  of 
the  week  spent  in  frolicking."  This  was  very  ill-received 
by  the  people  of  Boston  and  the  vicinity,  to  whom  Com- 
mencement was  a  season  of  hilarity  and  festivity  ;  the  min- 
isters were  also  dissatisfied,  not  knowing  the  day  in  some 
cases,  and  in  others  being  subjected  to  great  inconvenience 
on  account  of  their  living  at  a  distance  from  Cambridge. 
The  practice  was  accordingly  abandoned  in  1736,  and  Com- 
mencement, as  formerly,  was  held  on  Wednesday,  to  general 
satisfaction.  In  1749,  "  three  gentlemen,"  says  Quincy, 
"  who  had  sons  about  to  be  graduated,  offered  to  give  the 
College  a  thousand  pounds  old  tenor,  provided  '  a  trial  was 
made  of  Commencements  this  year,  in  a  more  private  man- 
ner.' "     The  proposition,  after  much  debate,  was  rejected, 


AND    CUSTOMS.  61 

and  "  public  Commencements  were  continued  without  inter- 
ruption, except  during  the  period  of  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  occasionally,  from  temporary  causes,  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  century,  notwithstanding  their  evils,  anoma- 
lies, and  inconsistencies." 

Commencement  Day  was  generally  considered  a  holiday 
throughout  the  Province,  and  in  the  nietropolis  the  shops 
were  usually  closed,  and  little  or  no  business  was  done. 
About  ten  days  before  this  period,  a  body  of  Indians  from 
Natick — men,  women,  and  pappooses — commonly  made 
their  appearance  at  Cambridge,  and  took  up  their  station 
around  the  Episcopal  Church,  in  the  cellar  of  which  they 
were  accustomed  to  sleep,  if  the  weather  was  unpleasant. 
The  women  sold  baskets  and  moccasins;  the  boys  gained 
money  by  shooting  at  it,  while  the  men  wandered  about  and 
spent  the  little  that  was  earned  by  their  squaws  in  rum  and 
tobacco.  Then  there  would  come  along  a  body  of  itinerant 
negro  fiddlers,  whose  scraping  never  intermitted  during  the 
lime  of  their  abode. 

The  Common,  on  Commencement  week,  was  covered 
with  booths,  erected  in  lines,  like  streets,  intended  to  accom- 
modate the  populace  from  Boston  and  the  vicinity  with  the 
amusements  of  a  fair.  In  these  were  carried  on  all  sorts  of 
dissipation.  Here  was  a  knot  of  gamblers,  gathered  around 
a  wheel  of  fortune,  or  watching  the  whirl  of  the  ball  on  a 
roulette-table.  Farther  along,  the  jolly  hucksters  displayed 
their  tempting  wares  in  the  shape  of  cooling  beverages  and 
palate-tickling  confections.  There  was  dancing  on  this  side, 
auction-selling  on  the  other ;  here  a  pantomimic  show,  there 
a  blind  man,  led  by  a  dog,  soliciting  alms ;  organ-grinders 
and  hurdy-gurdy  grinders,  bears  and  monkeys,  jugglers  and 
sword-swallowers,  all  mingled  in  inextricable  confusion. 

In  a  neighboring  field,  a  countryman  had,  perchance,  let 
loose  a  fox,  which  the  dogs  were  worrying  to  death,  while 
the  surrounding  crowd  testified  their  pleasure  at  the  scene 
by  shouts  of  approbation.  Nor  was  there  any  want  of  the 
spirituous ;  pails  of  punch,  guarded  by  stout  negroes,  bore 
witness  to  their  own  subtle  contents,  now  by  the  man  who 
6 


62  COLLEGE   WORDS 

lay  curled  up  under  the  adjoining  hedge,  "  forgetting  and 
forgot,"  and  again  by  the  drunkard,  reeling,  cursing,  and 
fighting  among  his  comrades.  It  is  to  such  scenes  as  these 
that  Mr.  William  Biglow  refers,  in  his  poem  recited  before 
the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society,  in  their  dining-hall,  August 
29th,  1811. 

"  All  hail,  Commencement  I  when  all  classes  free 
Throng  learning's  fount,  from  interest,  taste,  or  glee  ; 
When  sutlers  plain  in  tents,  like  Jacob,  dwell, 
Their  goods  distribute,  and  their  purses  swell ; 
When  tipplers  cease  on  wretchedness  to  think, 
Those  born  to  sell,  as  well  as  these  to  drink  ; 
When  every  day  each  merry  Andrew  clears 
More  cash  than  useful  men  in  many  years ; 
When  men  to  business  come,  or  come  to  rake, 
And  modest  women  spurn  at  Pope's  mistake.* 

*'  All  hail,  Commencement !  when  all  colors  join, 
To  gamble,  riot,  quarrel,  and  purloin  ; 
When  Afric's  sooty  sons,  a  race  forlorn. 
Play,  swear,  and  fight,  like  Christians  freely  born  ; 
And  Indians  bless  our  civilizing  merit. 
And  get  dead  drunk  with  truly  Christian  spirit  ; 
When  heroes,  skilled  in  pocket-picking  sleights, 
Of  equal  property  and  equal  rights. 
Of  rights  of  man  and  woman,  boldest  friends, 
Believing  means  are  sanctioned  by  their  ends,         > 
Sequester  part  of  Gripus'  boundless  store, 
While  Gripus  thanks  god  Plutus  he  has  more  ; 
And  needy  poet,  from  this  ill  secure, 
Feeling  his  fob,  cries,  '  Blessed  are  the  poor.'  " 
On  the  same  subject,  the  writer  of  Our  Chronicle  of  '26, 
a  satirical  poem,  versifies  in  the  following  manner  :  — 
"  Then  comes  Commencement  Day,  and  Discord  dire 

Strikes  her  confusion -string,  and  dust  and  noise 

Climb  up  the  skies  ;  ladies  in  thin  attire. 

For  't  is  in  August,  and  both  men  and  boys, 

Are  all  abroad,  in  sunshine  and  in  glee 
Making  all  heaven  rattle  with  their  revelry ! 

*  "  Men,  some  ta pleasure,  some  to  business,  take  ; 
But  every  woman  is  at  heart  a  rake." 


AND   CUSTOMS.  \\        ^^-a*  x    d8v      ^*^v 

*'  Ah  !  what  a  classic  sight  it  is  to  see  v^Q*  Z^-  ^ 

The  black  gowns  flaunting  in  the  sultry  air,  ^^^.  ^  ^^^ 

Boys  big  with  literary  sympathy,  ^^!^-^/i/      ^^^ 

And  all  the  glories  of  this  great  affair  !  ^^i^:L_      _^<^ 

More  classic  sounds  !  — within,  the  plaudit  shout,  ^^"' ' 

While  Punchinello's  rabble  echoes  it  without." 

To  this  the  author  appends  a  note,  as  follows  :  — 
"  The  holiday  extends  to  thousands  of  those  who  have  no 
particular  classical  pretensions,  further  than  can  be  recog- 
nized in  a  certain  'penchant  for  such  jubilees,  contracted  by 
attending  them  for  years  as  hangers-on.  On  this  devoted 
day  these  noisy  do-nothings  collect  with  mummers,  mon- 
keys, bears,  and  rope-dancers,  and  hold  their  revels  just 
beneath  the  windows  of  the  tabernacle  where  the  literary 
triumph  is  enacting. 

*  Turn  saeva  sonars 
Verbera,  turn  stridor  ferri  tractaeque  catenae.'  " 

A  writer  in  Buckingham's  New  England  Magazine, 
Vol.  Ill,  1832,  in  an  article  entitled  "Harvard  College 
Forty  Years  ago,"  thus  describes  the  customs  which  then 
prevailed  :  —  "As  I  entered  Cambridge,  what  were  my 
'  first  impressions  '  }  The  college  buildings  '  heaving  in 
sight  and  looming  up,'  as  the  sailors  say.  Pyramids  of 
Egypt !  can  ye  surpass  these  enormous  piles  }  The  com- 
mon covered  with  tents  and  wigwams,  and  people  of  all 
sorts,  colors,  conditions,  nations,  and  tongues.  A  country 
muster  or  ordination  dwindles  into  nothing  in  comparison. 
It  was  a  second  edition  of  Babel.  The  Governor's  life- 
guard, in  splendid  uniform,  prancing  to  and  fro, 

*  Quadrupedante  putrem  sonitu  quatit  ungula  campum,' 
Horny-hoofed,   galloping    quadrupeds    make   all  the    common  to 

tremble. 
"  I  soon  steered  for  the  meeting-house,  and  obtained  a 
seat,  or  rather  standing,  in  the  gallery,  determined  to  be  an 
eyewitness  of  all  the  sport  of  the  day.  Presently  music 
was  heard  approaching,  such  as  I  had  never  heard  before. 
It  must  be  '  the  music  of  the  spheres.'  Anon,  three  enor- 
mous white  wigs,  supported  by  three  stately,  venerable  men, 


64  COLLEGE    WORDS 

yclad  in  black,  flowing  robes,  were  located  in  the  pulpit. 
A  platform  of  wigs  w^as  formed  in  the  body  pews,  on  which 
one  might  apparently  walk  as  securely  as  on  the  stage. 
The  candidates  for  degrees  seemed  to  have  made  a  mistake 
in  dressing  themselves  in  Mack  togas  instead  of  while  ones, 
pro  more  Romanorum.  The  musicians  jammed  into  their 
pew  in  the  gallery,  very  near  to  me,  with  enormous  fiddles 
and  fifes  and  ramshorns.  Terrihile  visu  !  They  sounded. 
I  stopped  my  ears,  and  with  open  mouth  and  staring  eyes 
stood  aghast  with  wonderment.  The  music  ceased.  The 
performances  commenced.  English,  Latin,  Greek,  He- 
brew, French  !     These  scholars  knew  every  thing." 

The  irregularities  of  Commencement  week  seem  at  a  very 
early  period  to  have  attracted  the  attention  of  the  College 
government ;  for  we  find  that  in  1728,  to  prevent  disorder, 
a  formal  request  was  made  by  the  President,  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  immediate  government,  to  Lieutenant-Governor 
Dummer,  praying  him  to  direct  the  sheriff  of  Middlesex  to 
prohibit  the  setting  up  of  booths  and  tents  on  those  public 
days.  Some  years  after,  in  1732,  "  an  interview  took  place 
between  the  Corporation  and  three  justices  of  the  peace  in 
Cambridge,  to  concert  measures  to  keep  order  at  Com- 
mencement, and  under  their  warrant  to  establish  a  constable 
with  six  men,  who,  by  watching  and  walking  towards  the 
evening  on  these  days,  and  also  the  night  following,  and  in 
and  about  the  entry  at  the  College  Hall  at  dinner-time, 
should  prevent  disorders."  At  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  it  was  customary  for  two  special  justices  to  give 
their  attendance  at  this  period,  in  order  to  try  offences,  and 
a  guard  of  twenty  constables  was  usually  present  to  pre- 
serve order  and  attend  on  the  justices.  Among  the  writ- 
ings of  one,  who  for  fifty  years  was  a  constant  attendant  on 
these  occasions,  are  the  following  memoranda,  which  are  in 
themselves  an  explanation  of  the  customs  of  early  years. 
"  Commencement,  1828  ;  no  tents  on  the  Common  for  the 
first  time."  "  Commencement,  1836 ;  no  persons  intoxi- 
cated in  the  hall  or  out  of  it ;  the  first  time." 

The  following  extract  from  the  works  of  a  French  trav- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  W 

eller  will  be  read  with  interest  by  some,  as  an  instance  of 
the  manner  in  which  our  institutions  are  sometimes  regarded 
by  foreigners.  '*  In  a  free  country,  every  thing  ought  to 
bear  the  stamp  of  patriotism.  This  patriotism  appears  every 
year  in  a  solemn  feast  celebrated  at  Cambridge  in  honor  of 
the  sciences.  This  feast,  which  takes  place  once  a  year  in 
all  the  colleges  of  America,  is  called  Commencement,  It 
resembles  the  exercises  and  distribution  of  prizes  in  our  col- 
leges. It  is  a  day  of  joy  for  Boston  ;  almost  all  its  inhab- 
itants assemble  in  Cambridge.  The  most  distinguished  of 
the  students  display  their  talents  in  the  presence  of  the  pub- 
lic ;  and  these  exercises,  which  are  generally  on  patriotic 
subjects,  are  terminated  by  a  feast,  where  reign  the  freest 
gayety  and  the  most  cordial  fraternity." — Brissot^s  Travels 
in  U,  S.,  1788.     London,  1794,  Vol.  I.  pp.  85,  86. 

For  an  account  of  the  chair  from  which  the  President 
delivers  diplomas  on  Commencement  Day,  see  President's 
Chair. 

At  Yale  College,  the  first  Commencement  was  held  Sep- 
tember 13th,  1702,  while  that  institution  was  located  at  Say- 
brook,  at  which  four  young  men  who  had  before  graduated 
at  Harvard  College,  and  one  whose  education  had  been  pri- 
vate, received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  This  and  sev- 
eral Commencements  following  were  held  privately,  accord- 
ing to  an  act  which  had  been  passed  by  the  Trustees,  in  order 
to  avoid  unnecessary  expense  and  other  inconveniences.  In 
1718,  the  year  in  which  the  first  College  edifice  was  complet- 
ed, was  held  at  New  Haven  the  first  public  Commencement. 
The  following  account  of  the  exercises  on  this  occasion  was 
written  at  the  time  by  one  of  the  College  officers,  and  is 
cited  by  President  Woolsey  in  his  Discourse  before  the 
Graduates  of  Yale  College,  August  14th,  1850.  "  [We  were] 
favored  and  honored  with  the  presence  of  his  Honor,  Gov- 
ernor Saltonstall,  and  his  lady,  and  the  Hon.  Col.  Taylor 
of  Boston,  and  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  the  whole 
Superior  Court,  at  our  Commencement,  September  10th, 
1718,  where  the  Trustees  present,  —  those  gentlemen  being 
present,  —  in  the  hall  of  our  new  College,  first  most  solemn- 
6* 


66  '  COLLEGE    WORDS 

ly  named  our  College  by  the  name  of  Yale  College,  to  per-  j 
petuate  the  memory  of  the  honorable  Gov.  Elihu  Yale,  Esq., 
of  London,  who  had  granted  so  liberal  and  bountiful  a  dona- 
tion for  the  perfecting  and  adorning  of  it.  Upon  which  the 
honorable  Colonel  Taylor  represented  Governor  Yale  in  a 
speech  expressing  his  great  satisfaction  ;  which  ended,  we 
passed  to  the  church,  and  there  the  Commencement  was 
carried  on.  In  which  affair,  in  the  first  place,  after  prayer 
an  oration  was  had  by  the  saluting  orator,  James  Pierpont, 
and  then  the  disputations  as  usual ;  which  concluded,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Davenport  [one  of  the  Trustees  and  minister  of 
Stamford]  offered  an  excellent  oration  in  Latin,  expressing 
their  thanks  to  Almighty  God,  and  Mr.  Yale  under  him,  for 
so  public  a  favor  and  so  great  regard  to  our  languishing 
school.  After  which  were  graduated  ten  young  men, 
whereupon  the  Hon.  Gov.  Saltonstall,  in  a  Latin  speech, 
congratulated  the  Trustees  in  their  success  and  in  the  com- 
fortable appearance  of  things  with  relation  to  their  school. 
All  which  ended,  the  gentlemen  returned  to  the  College 
Hall,  where  they  were  entertained  with  a  splendid  dinner, 
and  the  ladies,  at  the  same  time,  were  also  entertained  in 
the  Library  ;  after  which  they  sung  the  four  first  verses  in 
the  65th  Psalm,  and  so  the  day  ended."  —  p.  24. 

The  following  excellent  and  interesting  account  of  the 
exercises  and  customs  of  Commencement  at  Yale  College, 
in  former  times,  is  taken  from  the  entertaining  address  re- 
ferred to  above  :  — "  Commencements  were  not  to  be  pub- 
lic, according  to  the  wishes  of  the  first  Trustees,  through  fear 
of  the  attendant  expense  ;  but  another  practice  soon  pre- 
vailed, and  continued  with  three  or  four  exceptions  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  in  1775.  They  were  then  private 
for  five  years,  on  account  of  the  times.  The  early  exercises 
of  the  candidates  for  the  first  degree  were  a  '  saluting ' 
oration  in  Latin,  succeeded  by  syllogistic  disputations  in  the 
same  language ;  and  the  day  was  closed  by  the  Masters' 
exercises,  —  disputations  and  a  valedictory.  According  to 
an  ancient  academical  practice,  theses  were  printed  and  dis- 
tributed upon  this  occasion,  indicating  what  the  candidates 


AND   CUSTOMS.  ffB 

for  a  degree  had  studied,  and  were  prepared  to  defend  ; 
yet,  contrary  to  the  usage  still  prevailing  at  universities 
which  have  adhered  to  the  old  method  of  testing  proficiency, 
it  does  not  appear  that  these  theses  were  ever  defended  in 
public.  They  related  to  a  variety  of  subjects  in  Technolo- 
gy, Logic,  Grammar,  Rhetoric,  Mathematics,  Physics,  Meta- 
physics, Ethics,  and  afterwards  Theology.  The  candidates 
for  a  Master's  degree  also  published  theses  at  this  time, 
which  were  called  QucesHones  magistrales.  The  syllogistic 
disputes  were  held  between  an  affirmant  and  respondent, 
who  stood  in  the  side  galleries  of  the  church  opposite  to  one 
another,  and  shot  the  weapons  of  their  logic  over  the  heads 
of  the  audience.  The  saluting  bachelor  and  the  master 
who  delivered  the  valedictory  stood  in  the  front  gallery,  and 
the  audience  huddled  around  below  them  to  catch  their 
Latin  eloquence  as  it  fell.  It  seems  also  to  have  been  usual 
for  the  President  to  pronounce  an  oration  in  some  foreign 
tongue  upon  the  same  occasion.* 

"  At  the  first  public  Commencement  under  President 
Stiles,  in  1781,  we  find*  from  a  particular  description  which 
has  been  handed  down,  that  the  original  plan,  as  above  de- 
scribed, was  subjected  for  the  time  to  considerable  modifica- 
tions. The  scheme,  in  brief,  was  as  follows  :  — The  saluta- 
tory oration  was  delivered  by  a  member  of  the  graduating 
class,  who  is  now  our  aged  and  honored  townsman,  Judge 
Baldwin.  This  was  succeeded  by  the  syllogistic  disputa- 
tions, and  these  by  a  Greek  oration,  next  to  which  came  an 
English  colloquy.  Then  followed  a  forensic  disputation,  in 
which  James  Kent  was  one  of  the  speakers.  Then  Presi- 
dent Stiles  delivered  an  oration  in  Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  and 
Arabic, —  it  being  an  extraordinary  occasion.  After  which 
the  morning  was  closed  with  an  English  oration  by  one  of 
the  graduating  class.  In  the  afternoon,  the  candidates  for 
the  second  degree  had  the  time,  as  usual,  to  themselves, 
after  a  Latin  discourse  by  President  Stiles.  The  exhibiters 
appeared  in  syllogistic  disputes,  a  dissertation,  a  poem,  and 

*  See  under  Thesis  and  Master's  Question. 


68  COLLEGE   WORDS 

an  English  oration.  Among  these  performers  we  find  the 
names  of  Noah  Wehsler,  Joel  Barlow,  and  Oliver  Wolcott. 
Besides  the  Commencements  there  were  exhibitions  upon 
quarter-days,  as  they  were  called,  in  December  and  March, 
as  well  as  at  the  end  of  the  third  term,  when  the  younger 
classes  performed  ;  and  an  exhibition  of  the  Seniors  in  July, 
at  the  time  of  their  examination  for  degrees,  when  the  vale- 
dictory orator  was  one  of  their  own  choice.  This  oration  was 
transferred  to  the  Commencement  about  the  year  1798,  when 
the  Masters'  valedictories  had  fallen  into  disuse;  and  being 
in  English,  gave  a  new  interest  to  the  exercises  of  the  day. 

"  Commencements  were  long  occasions  of  noisy  mirth, 
and  even  of  riot.  The  older  records  are  full  of  attempts, 
on  the  part  of  the  Corporation,  to  put  a  stop  to  disorder  and 
extravagance  at  this  anniversary.  From  a  document  of 
1731,  it  appears  that  cannons  had  been  fired  in  honor  of  the 
day,  and  students  were  now  forbidden  to  have  a  share  in  this 
on  pain  of  degradation.  The  same  prohibition  was  found 
necessary  again  in  1755,  at  which  time  the  practice  had 
grown  up  of  illuminating  the  College  buildings  upon  Com- 
mencement eve.  But  the  habit  of  drinking  spirituous  liquor, 
and  of  furnishing  it  to  friends,  on  this  public  occasion,  grew 
up  into  more  serious  evils.  In  the  year  1737,  the  Trustees, 
having  found  that  there  was  a  great  expense  in  spirituous 
distilled  liquors  upon  Commencement  occasions,  ordered 
that  for  the  future  no  candidate  for  a  degree,  or  other  stu- 
dent, should  provide  or  allow  any  such  liquors  to  be  drunk 
in  his  chamber  during  Commencement  week.  And  again, 
it  was  ordered  in  1746,  with  the  view  of  preventing  several 
extravagant  and  expensive  customs,  that  there  should  be  '  no 
kind  of  public  treat  but  on  Commencement,  quarter-days, 
and  the  day  on  which  the  valedictory  oration  was  pro- 
nounced ;  and  on  that  day  the  Seniors  may  provide  and  give 
away  a  barrel  of  metheglin,  and  nothing  more.'  But  the 
evil  continued  a  long  time.  In  1760,  it  appears  that  it  was 
usual  for  the  graduating  class  to  provide  a  pipe  of  wine,  in 
the  payment  of  which  each  one  was  forced  to  join.  The 
Corporation  now  attempted  by  very  stringent  law  to  break 


AND    CUSTOMS.  69 

up  this  practice ;  but  the  Senior  Class  having  united  in 
bringing  large  quantities  of  rum  into  College,  the  Com- 
mencement exercises  were  suspended,  and  degrees  were 
withheld  until  after  a  public  confession  of  the  class.  In  the 
two  next  years  degrees  were  given  at  the  July  examination, 
with  a  view  to  prevent  such  disorders,  and  no  public  Com- 
mencement was  celebrated.  Similar  scenes  are  not  known 
to  have  occurred  afterwards,  although  for  a  long  time  that 
anniversary  wore  as  much  the  aspect  of  a  training-day  as  of 
a  literary  festival. 

"  The  Commencement  Day  in  the  modern  sense  of  the 
term,  —  that  is,  a  gathering  of  graduated  members  and  of 
others  drawn  together  by  a  common  interest  in  the  College, 
and  in  its  young  members  who  are  leaving  its  walls,  —  has 
no  counterpart  that  I  know  of  in  the  older  institutions  of 
Europe.  It  arose  by  degrees  out  of  the  former  exercises 
upon  this  occasion,  with  the  addition  of  such  as  had  been 
usual  before  upon  quarter-days,  or  at  the  presentation  in  July. 
For  a  time  several  of  the  commencing  Masters  appeared  on 
the  stage  to  pronounce,  orations,  as  they  had  done  before. 
In  process  of  time,  when  they  had  nearly  ceased  to  exhibit, 
this  anniversary  began  to  assume  a  somewhat  new  feature  5 
the  peculiarity  of  which  consists  in  this,  that  the  graduates 
have  a  literary  festival  more  peculiarly  their  own,  in  the 
shape  of  discourses  delivered  before  their  assembled  body, 
or  before  some  literary  society,"  —  Woolsey'^s  Historical 
Discourse^  pp.  65  -  68. 

At  Shelby  College,  Ky.,  it  is  customary  at  Commence- 
ment to  perform  plays,  with  appropriate  costumes,  at  stated 
intervals  during  the  exercises. 

An  account  of  the  manner  in  which  Commencement  has 
been  observed  at  other  colleges  would  only  be  a  repetition 
of  what  has  been  stated  above,  in  reference  to  Harvard  and 
Yale.  These  being,  the  former  the  first,  and  the  latter  the 
third,  insthution  founded  in  our  country,  the  colleges  which 
were  established  at  a  later  period  grounded  not  only  their 
laws,  but  to  a  great  extent  their  customs,  on  the  laws  and 
customs  which  prevailed  at  Cambridge  and  New  Haven. 


70  COLLEGE    WORDS 

COMMENCEMENT  CARD.  At  Union  College,  there  is 
issued  annually  at  Commencement  a  card  containing  a  pro- 
gramme of  the  exercises  of  the  day,  signed  with  the  names 
of  twelve  of  the  Senior  Class,  who  are  members  of  the  four 
principal  college  societies.  These  cards  are  worded  in  the 
form  of  invitations,  and  are  to  be  sent  to  the  friends  of  the 
students.  To  be  "  on  the  Commencement  Card  "  is  esteemed 
an  honor,  and  is  eagerly  sought  for.  At  other  colleges,  in- 
vitations are  often  issued  at  this  period,  usually  signed  by 
the  President. 

COMMENCER.  In  American  colleges,  a  member  of  the 
Senior  Class,  after  the  examination  for  degrees  ;  generally, 
one  who  commences. 

These  exercises  were,  besides  an  oration  usually  made  by  the 
President,  orations  both  salutatory  and  valedictory,  made  by  some 
or  other  of  the  commencers.  —  Mather^ s  Magnalia,  B.  IV.  p.  128. 

The  Corporation  with  the  Tutors  shall  visit  the  chambers  of  the 
commencers  to  see  that  this  law  be  well  observed.  —  Peirce^s  Hist, 
Harv.  Univ.,  App.,  p.  137. 

Thirty  commencers,  besides  Mr.  Rogers,  &c.  —  Ibid.,  App.,  p. 
150. 

COMMISSARY.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  an 
officer  under  the  Chancellor,  and  appointed  by  him,  who 
holds  a  court  of  record  for  all  privileged  persons  and  schol- 
ars under  the  degree  of  M.  A.  In  this  court,  all  causes  are 
tried  and  determined  by  the  civil  and  statute  law,  and  by 
the  custom  of  the  University.  —  Cam.  CaL 

COMMON.     To  board  together  ;  to  eat  at  a  table  in  common. 

COMMONER.  A  student  of  the  second  rank  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford,  Eng.,  who  is  not  dependent  on  the  founda- 
tion for  support,  but  pays  for  his  board  or  commons,  together 
with  all  other  charges.  Corresponds  to  a  Pensioner  at 
Cambridge. 

COMMON  ROOM.  The  room  to  which  all  the  members  of 
the  college  have  access.  There  is  sometimes  one  common 
room  for  graduates,  and  another  for  undergraduates.  — 
Cralb's  Tech  Did. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  71 

Oh,  could  the  days  once  more  but  come, 
When  calm  I  smoak'd  in  common  room. 

The  Student,  Vol.  I.  p.  237.     Oxf.  and  Cam.,  1750. 

COMMONS.  Food  provided  at  a  common  table,  as  in  col- 
leges, where  many  persons  eat  at  the  same  table,  or  in  the 
same  hall.  —  Webster, 

|ii«i:  Commons  were  introduced  into  Harvard  College  at  its  first 
establishment,  in  the  year  1636,  in  imitation  of  the  English 
universities,  and  from  that  time  until  the  year  1849,  when 
they  were  abolished,  seem  to  have  been  a  never-failing 
source  of  uneasiness  and  disturbance.  While  the  infant 
College,  with  the  title  only  of  "  school,"  was  under  the  super- 
intendence of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Eaton,  its  first  "  master,"  the 
badness  of  commons  was  one  of  the  principal  causes  of 
complaint.  "  At  no  subsequent  period  of  the  College  his- 
tory," says  Mr.  Quincy,  "  has  discontent  with  commons 
been  more  just  and  well-founded,  than  under  the  hus- 
wifery  of  Mrs.  Eaton."  "  It  is  perhaps  owing,"  Mr.  Win- 
throp  observes  in  his  History  of  New  England,  "  to  the 
gallantry  of  our  fathers,  that  she  was  not  enjoined  in  the 
perpetual  malediction  they  bestowed  on  her  husband."  A 
few  years  after,  we  read,  in  the  "Information  given  by  the 
Corporation  and  Overseers  to  the  General  Court,"  a  proposi- 
tion either  to  make  "  the  scholars'  charges  less,  or  their 
commons  better."  For  a  long  period  after  this  we  have  no 
account  of  the  state  of  commons,  "  but  it  is  not  probable," 
says  Mr.  Peirce,  "  they  were  materially  different  from  what 
they  have  been  since."  * 

During  the  administration  of  President  Holyoke,  from  1737 
to  1769,  commons  were  the  constant  cause  of  disorders 
among  the  students.  There  appears  to  have  been  a  very 
general  permission  to  board  in  private  families  before  the 
year  1737 :  an  attempt  was  then  made  to  compel  the  under- 
graduates to  board  in  commons.  After  many  resolutions  a 
law  was  finally  passed,  in  1760,  prohibiting  them  "  from 
dining  or  supping,  in  any  house  in  town,  except  on  an  invi- 
tation to  dine  or  sup  gratis.'*'^  "  The  law,"  says  Quincy, 
"  was  probably  not  very  strictly  enforced.  It  was  limited  to 
one  year,  and  was  not  renewed." 


72  COLLEGE    WORDS 

An  idea  of  the  quality  of  commons  may  be  formed  from 
the  following  accounts  furnished  by  Dr.  Holyoke  and  Judge 
Wingate.  According  to  the  former  of  these  gentlemen, 
who  graduated  in  1746,  the  "  breakfast  was  two  sizings  of 
bread  and  a  cue  of  beer"  ;  and  "  evening  Commons  were  a 
pye."  The  latter,  who  graduated  thirteen  years  after,  says  : 
"  As  to  the  Commons,  there  were  in  the  morning  none 
while  I  was  in  College.  At  dinner,  we  had,  of  rather  ordi- 
nary quality,  a  sufficiency  of  meat  of  some  kind,  either  baked 
or  boiled ;  and  at  supper,  we  had  either  a  pint  of  milk  and 
half  a  biscuit,  or  a  meat  pye  of  some  other  kind.  Such 
were  the  Commons  in  the  Hall  in  my  day.  They  were 
rather  ordinary  ;  but  I  was  young  and  hearty,  and  could 
live  comfortably  upon  them.  I  had  some  classmates  who 
paid  for  their  Commons  and  never  entered  the  Hall  while 
they  belonged  to  the  College.  We  were  allowed  at  dinner 
a  cue  of  beer,  which  was  a  half  pint,  and  a  sizing  of  bread, 
which  I  cannot  describe  to  you.  It  was  quite  sufficient  for 
one  dinner."  By  a  vote  of  the  Corporation  in  1750,  a  law 
was  passed,  declaring  "  that  the  quantity  of  Commons  be,  as 
hath  been  usual,  viz.  two  sizes  of  bread  in  the  morning ; 
one  pound  of  meat  at  dinner,  with  sufficient  sauce  "  (vege- 
tables), "  and  a  half  a  pint  of  beer  ;  and  at  night  that  a  part 
pie  be  of  the  same  quantity  as  usual,  and  also  half  a  pint  of 
beer ;  and  that  the  supper  messes  be  but  of  four  parts, 
though  the  dinner  messes  be  of  six."  This  agrees  in  sub- 
stance with  the  accounts  given  above.  The  consequence 
*  of  such  diet  was,  "  that  the  sons  of  the  rich,"  says  Mr. 
Quincy,  "  accustomed  to  better  fare,  paid  for  comnrions, 
which  they  would  not  eat,  and  never  entered  the  hall  ; 
while  the  students  whose  resources  did  not  admit  of  such  an 
evasion  were  perpetually  dissatisfied." 

About  ten  years  after,  another  law  was  made, "  to  restrain 
scholars  from  breakfasting  in  the  houses  of  town's  people," 
and  provision  was  made  "  for  their  being  accommodated 
with  breakfast  in  the  hall,  either  milk,  chocolate,  tea,  or 
coffiie,  as  they  should  respectively  choose."  They  were 
allowed,  however,  to  provide  themselves  with  breakfasts  in 


AND    CUSTOMS.  78 

their  own  chambers,  but  not  to  breakfast  in  one  another's 
chambers.  From  this  period  breakfast  was  as  regularly- 
provided  in  Commons  as  dinner,  but  it  was  not  until  about 
the  year  1807  that  an  evening  meal  was  also  regularly  pro- 
vided. 

In  the  year  1765,  after  the  erection  of  Hollis  Hall,  the 
accommodations  for  students  within  the  walls  were  greatly 
enlarged,  and  the  inconvenience  being  thus  removed  which 
those  had  experienced  who,  living  out  of  the  College  build- 
ings, were  compelled  to  eat  in  commons,  a  system  of  laws 
was  passed,  by  which  all  who  occupied  rooms  within  the 
College  walls  were  compelled  to  board  constantly  in  Com- 
mons, "  the  officers  to  be  exempted  only  by  the  Corpora- 
tion, with  the  consent  of  the  Overseers ;  the  students  by 
the  President,  only  when  they  were  about  to  be  absent  for 
at  least  one  week."  Scarcely  a  year  had  passed  under  this 
new  regime^  "  before,"  says  Quincy,  "  an  open  revolt  of  the 
students  took  place  on  account  of  the  provisions,  which  it 
took  more  than  a  month  to  quell."  "  Although,"  he  con- 
tinues, "  their  proceedings  were  violent,  illegal,  and  insult- 
ing, yet  the  records  of  the  immediate  government  show  un- 
questionably, that  the  disturbances,  in  their  origin,  were  not 
wholly  without  cause,  and  that  they  were  aggravated  by 
want  of  early  attention  to  very  natural  and  reasonable  com- 
plaints." 

During  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution,  the  difficulty 
of  providing  satisfactory  commons  was  extreme,  as  may  be 
seen  from  the  following  vote  of  the  Corporation,  passed 
Aug.   11th,  1777. 

"  Whereas  by  law  9ih  of  Chap.  VI.  it  is  provided,  '  that 
there  shall  always  be  chocolate,  tea,  coffee,  and  milk  for 
breakfast,  with  bread  and  biscuit  and  butter,'  and  whereas 
the  foreign  articles  above  mentioned  are  now  not  to  be 
procured  whhout  great  difficulty,  and  at  a  very  exorbitant 
price  ;  therefore,  that  the  charge  of  Commons  may  be  kept 
as  low  as  possible,  — 

"  Voted,  That  the  Steward  shall  provide  at  the  common 
charge  only  bread  or  biscuit  and  milk  for  breakfast ;  and, 
7 


74  COLLEGE    WORDS 

if  any  of  the  scholars  choose  tea,  coffee,  or  chocolate  for 
breakfast,  they  shall  procure  those  articles  for  themselves, 
and  likewise  the  sugar  and  butter  to  be  used  with  them  ; 
and  if  any  scholars  choose  to  have  their  milk  boiled,  or 
thickened  with  flour,  if  it  may  be  had,  or  with  meal,  the 
Steward,  having  seasonable  notice,  shall  provide  it ;  and 
further,  as  salt  fish  alone  is  appointed  by  the  aforesaid  law 
for  the  dinner  on  Saturdays,  and  this  article  is  now  risen  to 
a  very  high  price,  and  through  the  scarcity  of  salt  will 
probably  be  higher,  the  Steward  shall  not  be  obliged  to  pro- 
vide salt  fish,  but  shall  procure  fresh  fish  as  often  as  he  can." 
—  Qaincy^s  Hist.  Harv.  TJniv.^  Vol.  II.  p.  541. 

Many  of  the  facts  in  the  following  account  of  commons 
prior  to,  and  immediately  succeeding,  the  year  1800,  have 
been  furnished  by  Mr.  Royal  Morse  of  Cambridge. 

The  hall  where  the  students  took  their  meals  was  usual- 
ly provided  with  ten  tables  ;  at  each  table  were  placed 
two  messes,  and  each  mess  consisted  of  eight  persons. 
The  tables  where  the  Tutors  and  Seniors  sat  were  raised 
eighteen  or  twenty  inches,  so  as  to  overlook  the  rest.  It 
was  the  duty  of  one  of  the  Tutors  or  of  the  Librarian  to 
"  ask  a  blessing  and  return  thanks,"  and  in  their  absence, 
the  duty  devolved  on  "  the  senior  graduate  or  under- 
graduate." The  waiters  were  students,  chosen  from  the 
difierent  classes,  and  receiving  for  their  services  suitable 
compensation.  Each  table  was  waited  on  by  members  of 
the  class  which  occupied  it,  with  the  exception  of  the  Tutor's 
table,  at  which  members  of  the  Senior  Class  served.  Un- 
like the  sizars  and  servitors  at  the  English  universities,  the 
waiters  were  usually  much  respected,  and  were  in  many 
cases  the  best  scholars  in  their  respective  classes. 

The  breakfast  consisted  of  a  specified  quantity  of  coffee, 
a  size  of  baker's  biscuit,  which  was  one  biscuit,  and  a  size 
of  butter,  which  was  about  an  ounce.  If  any  one  wished  for 
more  than  was  provided,  he  was  obliged  to  size  it,  i.  e.  order 
from  the  kitchen  or  buttery,  and  this  was  charged  as  extra 
Commons  or  sizings  in  the  quarter-bill. 

At  dinner,  every  mess  was  served  with  eight  pounds  of 


AND   CUSTOMS.  75 

meat,  allowing  a  pound  to  each  person.  On  Monday  and 
Thursday  the  meat  was  boiled  ;  these  days  were  on  this  ac- 
count commonly  called  "  boiling  days."  On  the  other  days 
the  meat  was  roasted ;  these  were  accordingly  named 
"  roasting  days."  Two  potatoes  were  allowed  to  each  per- 
son, which  he  was  obliged  to  pare  for  himself.  On  boiling 
days^  pudding  and  cabbage  were  added  to  the  bill  of  fare, 
and  in  their  season,  greens,  either  dandelion  or  the  wild 
pea.  Of  bread,  a  size  was  the  usual  quantity  apiece,  at  din- 
ner. Cider  was  the  common  beverage,  of  which  there  was 
no  stated  allowance,  but  each  could  drink  as  much  as  he 
chose.  It  was  brought  on  in  pewter  quart  cans,  two  to  a 
mess,  out  of  which  they  drank,  passing  them  from  mouth  to 
mouth  like  the  English  wassail-bowl.  The  waiters  replen- 
ished them  as  soon  as  they  were  emptied. 

No  regular  supper  was  provided,  but  a  bowl  of  milk,  and 
a  size  of  bread  procured  at  the  kitchen,  supplied  the  place 
of  the  evening  meal. 

A  writer  in  the  New  England  Magazine,  referring  to  the 
same  period,  says  :  "  In  commons,  we  fared  as  well  as 
one  half  of  us  had  been  accustomed  to  at  home.  Our 
breakfast  consisted  of  a  good-sized  biscuit  of  wheaten  flour, 
with  butter  and  cofl^ee,  chocolate,  or  milk,  at  our  option. 
Our  dinner  was  served  up  on  dishes  of  pewter,  and  our 
drink,  which  was  cider,  in  cans  of  the  same  material.  For 
our  suppers,  we  went  with  our  bowls  to  the  kitchen,  and 
received  our  rations  of  milk,  or  chocolate,  and  bread,  and 
returned  with  them  to  our  rooms."  —  Vol.  III.  p.  239. 

Although  much  can  be  said  in  favor  of  the  commons  sys- 
tem, on  account  of  its  economy  and  its  suitableness  to 
health  and  study,  yet  these  very  circumstances  which  were 
its  chief  recommendation  were  the  occasion  also  of  all  the 
odium  which  it  had  to  encounter.  "  That  simplicity,"  says 
Peirce,  "  which  makes  the  fare  cheap,  and  wholesome,  and 
philosophical,  renders  it  also  unsatisfactory  to  dainty  palates ; 
and  the  occasional  appearance  of  some  unlucky  meat,  or 
other  food,  is  a  signal  for  a  general  outcry  against  the  pro- 
visions."    In  the  plain  but  emphatic  words  of  one  who  was 


76  COLLEGE   WORDS 

acquainted   with  the  state  of  commons,  as  they  once  were 
at  Harvard  College,  "  the  butter  was  sometimes  so  bad,  that 
a  farmer  would  not  take  it  to  grease  his  cart-wheels  with." 
It  was  the  usual  practice  of  the  Steward,  when  veal  was 
cheap,  to  furnish  it  to  the  students  three,  four,  and  some- 
times five  times  in  the  week  ;  the  same  with  reference  to 
other  meats  when  they  could  be  bought  at  a  low  price,  and 
especially  with  lamb.     The  students,  after  eating  this  latter 
kind  of  meat  for  five  or  six  successive  weeks,  would  often 
I    assemble  before  the  Steward's  house,  and,  as  if  their  natures 
j;    had  been  changed    by  their  diet,  would   bleat  and  blatter 
1^    until  he  was  fain  to  promise  them  a  change  of  food,  upon 
which  they  would  separate  until  a  recurrence  of  the  same 
evil  compelled  them  to  the  same  measures. 

The  annexed  account  of  commons  at  Yale  College,  in  for- 
mer times,  is  given  by  President  Woolsey,  in  his  Historical 
Discourse,  pronounced  at  New  Haven,  August  14th,  1850. 

"  At  first,  a  college  without  common  meals  was  hardly 
conceived  of;  and,  indeed,  if  we  trace  back  the  history  of 
colleges  as  they  grew  up  at  Paris,  nothing  is  more  of  their 
essence  than  that  students  lived  and  ate  together  in  a  kind  of 
conventual  system.  No  doubt,  also,  when  the  town  of  New 
Haven  was  smaller,  it  was  far  more  difficult  to  find  desira- 
ble places  for  boarding  than  at  present.  But  however  ne- 
cessary, the  Steward's  department  was  always  beset  with 
difficulties  and  exposed  to  complaints  which  most  gentle- 
men present  can  readily  understand.  The  following  rations 
of  commons,  voted  by  the  Trustees  in  1742,  will  show  the 
state  of  college  fare  at  that  time.  '  Ordered,  that  the  Stew- 
ard shall  provide  the  commons  for  the  scholars  as  follows, 
viz. :  — For  breakfast,  one  loaf  of  bread  for  four,  which  [the 
dough]  shall  weigh  one  pound.  For  dinner  for  four,  one 
loaf  of  bread  as  aforesaid,  two  and  a  half  pounds  beef,  veal, 
or  mutton,  or  one  and  three  quarter  pounds  salt  pork  about 
twice  a  week  in  the  summer  time,  one  quart  of  beer,  two 
pennyworth  of  sauce  [vegetables].  For  supper  for  four, 
two  quarts  of  milk  and  one  loaf  of  bread,  when  milk  can 
conveniently  be  had,  and  when  it  cannot,  then  apple-pie, 


AND    CUSTOMS.  T7 

which  shall  be  made  of  one  and  three  fourth  pounds  dough, 
one  quarter  pound  hog's  fat,  two  ounces  sugar,  and  half  a 
peck  apples.'  In  1759  we  find,  from  a  vote  prohibiting  the 
practice,  that  beer  had  become  one  of  the  articles  allowed 
for  the  evening  meal.  Soon  after  this,  the  evening  meal 
was  discontinued,  and,  as  is  now  the  case  in  the  English 
colleges,  the  students  had  supper  in  their  own  rooms,  which 
led  to  extravagance  and  disorder.  In  the  Revolutionary  war 
the  Steward  was  quite  unable  once  or  twice  to  provide  food 
for  the  College,  and  this,  as  has  already  appeared,  led  to  the 
dispersion  of  the  students  in  1776  and  1777,  and  once  again 
in  1779  delayed  the  beginning  of  the  winter  term  several 
weeks.  Since  that  time,  nothing  peculiar  has  occurred  with 
regard  to  Commons,  and  they  continued  with  all  their  evils 
of  coarse  manners  and  wastefulness  for  sixty  years.  The 
conviction,  meanwhile,  was  increasing,  that  they  were  no 
essential  part  of  the  College,  that  on  the  score  of  economy 
they  could  claim  no  advantage,  that  they  degraded  the  man- 
ners of  students  and  fomented  disorder.  The  experiment  of 
suppressing  them  has  hitherto  been  only  a  successful  one. 
No  one,  who  can  retain  a  lively  remembrance  of  the  com- 
mons and  the  manners  as  they  were  both  before  and  since 
the  building  of  the  new  Hall  in  1819,  will  wonder  that  this 
resolution  was  adopted  by  the  authorities  of  the  College."  — 
pp.  70-72. 

The  above  account  of  commons  applies  generally  to  the 
system  as  it  was  carried  out  in  the  other  colleges  in  the 
United  States.  In  almost  every  college,  commons  have 
been  abolished,  and  with  them  have  departed  the  discords, 
dissatisfactions,  and  open  revolts  of  which  they  were  so  often 
the  cause. 
COMPOSUIST.  A  writer  ;  composer.  "  This  extraordinary 
word,"  says  Mr.  Pickering,  in  his  Vocabulary,  "  has  been 
m.uch  used  at  some  of  our  colleges,  but  very  seldom  else- 
where. It  is  now  rarely  heard  among  us.  A  correspond- 
ent observes,  that  '  it  is  used  in  England  among  musicians,'* 
I  have  never  met  with  it  in  any  English  publications  upon 
the  subject  of  music." 
7* 


78  COLLEGE    WORDS 

The  word  is  not  found,  I  believe,  in  any  dictionary  of  the 
English  tongue. 
COMPOUNDER.  One  at  a  university  who  pays  extraordi- 
nary fees,  according  to  his  means,  for  the  degree  he  is  to 
take.  A  Grand  Compounder  pays  double  fees.  See  the 
Customs  and  Laws  of  Univ.  of  Cam.^  Eng.^  p.  297. 

CONCIO  AD  CLERUM.  A  sermon  to  the  clergy.  In  the 
English  universities,  an  exercise  or  Latin  sermon,  which  is 
required  of  every  candidate  for  the  degree  of  D.  D.  Used 
sometimes  in  America. 

In  the  evening  the  ^^concio  ad  clerum^^  will  be   preached. — 
Yak  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol.  XII.  p.  426. 

CONDITION.  A  student  on  being  examined  for  admission  to 
college,  if  found  deficient  in  certain  studies,  is  admitted  on 
condition  he  will  make  up  the  deficiency,  if  it  is  believed  on 
the  whole  that  he  is  capable  of  pursuing  the  studies  of  the 
class  for  which  he  is  offered.  The  branches  in  which  he  is 
deficient  are  called  conditions. 
Talks  of  Bacchus  and  tobacco,  short  sixes,  sines,  transitions, 
And  Alma  Mater  takes  him  in  on  ten  or  twelve  conditions. 

Poem  before  Y.  H.  Sac,  Harv.  ColL 
Praying  his  guardian  powers 
To  assist  a  poor  Sub  Fresh  at  the  dread  Examination, 
And  free  from  all  conditions  to  insure  his  first  vacation. 

Poem  before  ladma,  Harv.  Coll, 

CONFESSION.  It  was  formerly  the  custom  in  the  older 
American  colleges,  when  a  student  had  rendered  himself 
obnoxious  to  punishment,  provided  the  crime  was  not  of  an 
aggravated  nature,  to  pardon  and  restore  him  to  his  place 
in  the  class,  on  his  presenting  a  confession  of  his  fault  to 
be  read  publicly  in  the  hall.  The  Diary  of  President  Lev- 
erett,  of  Harvard  College,  under  date  of  the  20th  of  March, 
1714,  contains  an  interesting  account  of  the  confession  of 
Larnel,  an  Indian  student  belonging  to  the  Junior  Sophister 
class,  who  had  been  guilty  of  some  offence  for  which  he  had 
been  dismissed  from  college. 

"  He  remained,"  says  Mr.  Leverett,  "  a  considerable  time 


AND   CUSTOMS.  79 

at  Boston,  in  a  state  of  penance.  He  presented  his  confes- 
sion  to  Mr.  Pemberton,  who  thereupon  became  his  interces- 
sor, and  in  his  letter  to  the  President  expresses  himself  thus: 
'  This  comes  by  Larnel,  who  brings  a  confession  as  good  as 
Austin's,  and  1  am  charitably  disposed  to  hope  it  flows  from 
a  like  spirit  of  penitence.'  In  the  public  reading  of  his 
confession,  the  flowing  of  his  passions  was  extraordinarily 
timed,  and  his  expressions  accented,  and  most  peculiarly  and 
emphatically  those  of  the  grace  of  God  to  him ;  which  in- 
deed did  give  a  peculiar  grace  to  the  performance  itself,  and 
raised,  I  believe,  a  charity  in  some  that  had  very  little  I  am 
sure,  and  ratified  wonderfully  that  which  I  had  conceived  of 
him.  Having  made  his  public  confession,  he  was  restored 
to  his  standing  in  the  College."  —  Quincy'^s  Hist,  Harv, 
TJniv,,  Vol.  I.  pp.  443,  444. 

CONGREGATION.  At  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  the  assembly 
of  Masters  and  Doctors  for  transacting  the  ordinary  business 
of  conferring  degrees,  electing  officers,  passing  graces  and 
dispensations,  &c.  —  Cam.  and  Oxf,  Cats, 

CONSERVATOR.  An  officer  who  has  the  charge  of  pre- 
serving the  rights  and  privileges  of  a  city,  corporation,  or 
community,  as  in  Roman  Catholic  universities.  —  Webster, 

CONSISTORY  COURT.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
England,  there  is  a  consistory  court  of  the  Chancellor  and 
of  the  Commissary.  "  For  the  former,"  says  the  Gradus  ad 
Cantabrigiam,  "  the  Chancellor,  and  in  his  absence  the  Vice- 
Chancellor,  assisted  by  some  of  the  heads  of  houses,  and 
one  or  more  doctors  of  the  civil  law,  administers  justice 
desired  by  any  member  of  the  University,  &c.  In  the  latter, 
the  Commissary  acts  by  authority  given  him  under  the  seal 
of  the  Chancellor,  as  well  in  the  University  as  at  Stourbridge 
and  Midsummer  fairs,  and  takes  cognizance  of  all  offences, 
&c.     The  proceedings  are  the  same  in  both  courts." 

CONVENTION.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England, 
a  court  consisting  of  the  Master  and  Fellows  of  a  college, 
who  sit  in  the  Combination  Room^  and  pass  sentence  on  any 


80  COLLEGE   WORDS 

young  offender  against  the  laws  of  soberness  and  chastity. 
—  Gradus  ad  Cantahrigiam. 

CONVICTOR.  Latin,  a  familiar  acquaintance.  In  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  those  are  called  convictores  who,  although 
not  belonging  to  the  foundation  of  any  college  or  hall,  have 
at  any  time  been  regents,  and  have  constantly  kept  their 
names  on  the  books  of  some  colfege  or  hall,  from  the  time 
of  their  admission  to  the  degree  of  A.  M.,  or  Doctors  in 
either  of  the  three  faculties.  —  Oxf.  Cal, 

CONVOCATION.  In  the  University  of  Oxford,  England,  an 
academical  assembly,  the  business  of  which  extends  to  all 
subjects  connected  with  the  credit,  interest,  and  welfare  of 
the  University,  a  restriction  only  being  prescribed  to  the 
enacting  of  new  and  the  explaining  of  old  statutes.  In  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  England,  an  assembly  of  the 
Senate  out  of  term  time  is  called  a  convocation.  In  such  a 
case  a  grace  is  immediately  passed  to  convert  the  convoca- 
tion into  a  congregation,  after  which  the  business  proceeds 
as  usual.  —  Oxf.  and  Cam,  Cals. 

COPUS.     "  Of  mighty  ale,  a  large  quarte."  —  Chancer, 

The  word  copus  and  the  beverage  itself  are  both  exten- 
sively used  among  the  7nen  of  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
England.  "  The  conjecture,"  says  the  Gradus  ad  Canta- 
hrigiam, "  is  surely  ridiculous  and  senseless,  that  Copus  is 
contracted  from  Episcopus,  a  bishop,  '  a  mixture  of  wine, 
oranges,  and  sugar.'  A  copus  of  ale  is  a  common  fine  at 
the  student's  table  in  Hall  for  speaking  Latin,  or  for  some 
similar  impropriety." 

CORPORAL  PUNISHMENT.  In  the  older  American  col- 
leges, corporal  punishment  was  formerly  sanctioned  by  law, 
and  several  instances  remain  on  record  which  show  that  its 
infliction  was  not  of  rare  occurrence. 

Among  the  laws,  rules,  and  scholastic  forms  established 
between  the  years  1642  and  1646,  by  Mr.  Dunster,  the  first 
President  of  Harvard  College,  occurs  the  following  :  "  Siquis 
scholarium  ullam  Dei  et  hujus  Collegii  legem,  sive  animo 


AND   CUSTOMS.  81 

perverso,  sen  ex  supina  negligentia,  violarit,  postquam  fuerit 
bis  admonitus,  si  non  adultus,  virgis  coerceatur,  sin  adultus, 
ad  Inspectores  Collegii  deferendus  erit,  ut  publice  in  eum 
pro  meritis  animadversio  fiat."  In  the  year  1656,  this  law 
was  strengthened  by  another,  recorded  by  Quincy,  in  these 
words  :  "  It  is  hereby  ordered  that  the  President  and  Fel- 
lows of  Harvard  College,  for  the  time  being,  or  the  major 
part  of  them,  are  hereby  empowered,  according  to  their  best 
discretion,  to  punish  all  misdemeanors  of  the  youth  in  their ; 
society,  either  by  fine,  or  whipping  in  the  Hall  openly^  as 
the  nature  of  the  offence  shall  require,  not  exceeding  ten 
shillings  or  ten  stripes  for  one  offence  ;  and  this  law  to  con- 
tinue in  force  until  this  Court  or  the  Overseers  of  the  Col- 
lege provide  some  other  order  to  punish  such  offences."  — 
Quincy'' s  Hist.  Harv,  Univ.^  Vol.  I.  pp.  578,  513. 

A  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  such  laws  as  the  above 
is  in  some  measure  a  preparation  for  the  following  relation 
given  by  Mr.  Peirce  in  his  History  of  Harvard  University. 

"  At  the  period  when  Harvard  College  was  founded,"  says 
that  gentleman,  "one  of  the  modes  of  punishment  in  the 
great  schools  of  England  and  other  parts  of  Europe  was 
corporal  chastisement.  It  was  accordingly  introduced  here, 
and  was,  no  doubt,  frequently  put  in  practice.  An  instance 
of  its  infliction,  as  part  of  the  sentence  upon  an  offender,  is 
presented  in  Judge  Sewall's  MS.  Diary,  with  the  particulars 
of  a  ceremonial,  which  was  reserved  probably  for  special 
occasions.  His  account  will  afford  some  idea  of  the  man- 
ners and  spirit  of  the  age  :  — 

" '  June  15,  1674,  Thomas  Sargeant  was  examined  by 
the  Corporation  finally.  The  advice  of  Mr.  Danforth,  Mr. 
Stoughton,  Mr.  Thacher,  Mr.  Mather  (the  present),  was 
taken.     This  was  his  sentence  : 

"  '  That  being  convicted  of  speaking  blasphemous  words 
concerning  the  H.  G.,  he  should  be  therefore  publickly 
whipped  before  all  the  scholars. 

"  '  2.  That  he  should  be  suspended  as  to  taking  his  degree 
of  Bachelor.  (This  sentence  read  before  him  twice  at  the 
President's  before  the  Committee  and  in  the  Library,  before 
execution.) 


82  COLLEGE  WORDS 

"  '  3.  Sit  alone  by  himself  in  the  Hall  uncovered  at  meals, 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  President  and  Fellows,  and  be  in 
all  things  obedient,  doing  what  exercise  was  appointed  him 
by  the  President,  or  else  be  finally  expelled  the  College. 
The  first  was  presently  put  in  execution  in  the  Library  (Mr. 
Danforth,  Jr.  being  present)  before  the  scholars.  He 
kneeled  down,  and  the  instrument,  Goodman  Hely,  attended 
the  President's  word  as  to  the  performance  of  his  part  in  the 
work.  Prayer  was  had  before  and  after  by  the  President, 
July  1,  1674.'  " 

"  Men's  ideas,"  continues  Mr.  Peirce,  "  must  have  been 
very  different  from  those  of  the  present  day,  to  have  toler- 
ated a  law  authorizing  so  degrading  a  treatment  of  the  mem- 
bers of  such  a  society.  It  may  easily  be  imagined  what 
complaints  and  uneasiness  its  execution  must  frequently 
have  occasioned  among  the  friends  and  connections  of  those 
who  were  the  subjects  of  it.  In  one  instance  it  even  occa- 
sioned the  prosecution  of  a  Tutor ;  but  this  was  as  late  as 
1733,  when  old  rudeness  had  lost  much  of  the  people's 
reverence.  The  law,  however,  was  suffered,  with  some 
modification,  to  continue  more  than  a  century.  In  the  re- 
vised body  of  Laws  made  in  the  year  1734,  we  find  this 
article  :  '  Notwithstanding  the  preceding  pecuniary  mulcts, 
it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  President,  Tutors,  and  Professors, 
to  punish  Undergraduates  by  Boxing,  when  they  shall  judge 
the  nature  or  circumstances  of  the  offence  call  for  it.'  This 
relic  of  barbarism,  however,  was  growing  more  and  more 
repugnant  to  the  general  taste  and  sentiment.  The  late 
venerable  Dr.  Holyoke,  who  was  of  the  class  of  1746,  ob- 
served, that  in  his  day  '  corporal  punishment  was  going  out 
oFuse';  and  at  length  it  was  expunged  from  the  code, 
never,  we  trust,  to  be  recalled  from  the  rubbish  of  past  ab- 
surdities." —  pp.  227,  228. 

The  last  movements  which  were  made  in  reference  to 
corporal  punishment  are  thus  stated  by  President  Qulncy, 
in  his  History  of  Harvard  University.  "  In  July,  1755,  the 
Overseers  voted,  that  it  [the  right  of  boxing]  should  be 
'  taken   away.'      The  Corporation,  however,  probably  re- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  83 

garded  it  as  too  important  an  instrument  of  authority  to  be 
for  ever  abandoned,  and  voted, '  that  it  should  be  suspended, 
as  to  the  execution  of  it,  for  one  year.'  When  this  vote 
came  before  the  Overseers  for  their  sanction,  the  board  hesi- 
tated, and  appointed  a  large  committee  '  to  consider  and 
make  report  what  punishments  they  apprehend  proper  to  be 
substituted  instead  of  boxing,  in  case  it  be  thought  expedient 
to  repeal  or  suspend  the  law  which  allows  or  establishes  the 
same.'  From  this  period  the  law  disappeared,  and  the  prac- 
tice was  discontinued."  —  Vol.  II.  p.  134.       , 

The  manner  in  which  corporal  punishment  Vas  formerly 
inflicted  at  Yale  College  is  stated  by  President  Woolsey,  in 
his  Historical  Discourse,  delivered  at  New  Haven,  August, 
1850.  After  speaking  of  the  methods  of  punishing  by  fines 
and  degradation,  he  thus  proceeds  to  this  topic  :  "  There 
was  a  still  more  remarkable  punishment,  as  it  must  strike 
the  men  of  our  times,  and  which,  although  for  some  reason 
or  other  no  traces  of  it  exist  in  any  of  our  laws  so  far  as  I 
have  discovered,  was  in  accordance  with  the  '  good  old 
plan,'  pursued  probably  ever  since  the  origin  of  universities. 
I  refer  — '  horresco  referens '  —  to  the  punishment  of  box- 
ing or  cuffing.  It  was  applied  before  the  Faculty  to  the 
luckless  offender  by  the  President,  towards  whom  the  culprit, 
in  a  standing  position,  inclined  his  head,  while  blows  fell  in 
quick  succession  upon  either  ear.  No  one  seems  to  have 
been  served  in  this  way  except  Freshmen  and  commencing 
'  Sophimores.'  *  I  do  not  find  evidence  that  this  usage 
much  survived  the  first  jubilee  of  the  College.  One  of  the 
few  known  instances  of  it,  which  is  on  other  accounts  re- 
markable, was  as  follows  :  A  student  in  the  first  quarty  of 
his  Sophomore  year,  havihg  committed  an  offence  for  which 
he  had  been  boxed  when  a  Freshman,  was  ordered  to  be 
boxed  again,  and  to  have  the  additional  penalty  of  acting  as 
butler's  waiter  for  one  week.  On  presenting  himself,  more 
academico,  for  the  purpose  of  having  his  ears  boxed,  and 
while  the  blow  was  falling,  he   dodged  and  fled   from  the 

*  The  old  way  of  spelling  the  word  Sophomore,  q.  v. 


84  COLLEGE   WORDS 

room  and  the  College.  The  beadle  was  thereupon  ordered 
to  try  to  find  him,  and  to  command  him  to  keep  himself  out 
of  College  and  out  of  the  yard,  and  to  appear  at  prayers  the 
next  evening,  there  to  receive  further  orders.  He  was  then 
publicly  admonished  and  suspended  ;  but  in  four  days  after 
submitted  to  the  punishment  adjudged,  which  was  according- 
ly inflicted,  and  upon  his  public  confession  his  suspension 
was  taken  off.  Such  public  confessions,  now  unknown, 
were  then  exceedingly  common." 

After  referring  to  the  instance  mentioned  above,  in  which 
corporal  piiffishment  was  inflicted  at  Harvard  College,  the 
author  speaks  as  follows,  in  reference  to  the  same  subject,  as 
connected  with  the  English  universities.  "  The  excerpts 
from  the  body  of  Oxford  statutes,  printed  in  the  very  year 
when  this  College  was  founded,  threaten  corporal  punish- 
ment to  persons  of  the  proper  age,  —  that  is,  below  the  age 
of  eighteen,  —  for  a  variety  of  offences ;  and  among  the 
rest  for  disrespect  to  Seniors,  for  frequenting  places  where 
'  vinum  aut  quivis  alius  potus  aut  herba  Nicotiana  ordinarie 
venditur,'  for  coming  home  to  their  rooms  after  the  great 
Tom  or  bell  of  Christ's  Church  had  sounded,  and  for  play- 
ing football  within  the  University  precincts  or  in  the  city 
streets.  But  the  statutes  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
contain  more  remarkable  rules,  which  are  in  theory  still 
valid,  although  obsolete  in  fact.  All  the  scholars,  it  is  there 
said,  who  are  absent  from  prayers,  —  Bachelors  excepted, 
—  if  over  eighteen  years  of  age,  '  shall  be  fined  a  half- 
penny, but  if  they  have  not  completed  the  year  of  their  age 
above  mentioned,  they  shall  be  chastised  with  rods  in  the 
h^  on  Friday.'  At  this  chastisement  all  undergraduates 
were  required  to  be  lookers  on,  the  Dean  having  the  rod  of 
punishment  in  his  hand ;  and  it  was  provided  also,  that  who- 
soever should  not  answer  to  his  name  on  this  occasion,  if  a 
boy,  should  be  flogged  on  Saturday.  No  doubt  this  rigor 
towards  the  younger  members  of  the  society  was  handed 
down  from  the  monastic  forms  which  education  took  in  the 
earlier  schools  of  the  Middle  Ages.  And  an  advance  in  the 
age  of  admission,  as  well  as  a  change  in  the  tone  of  treat- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  85 

ment  of  the  young  may  account  for  this  system  being  laid 
aside  at  the  universities  ;  although,  as  is  well  known,  it  con- 
tinues to  flourish  at  the  great  public  schools  of  England."  — 
pp.  49  -  51. 

CORPORATION.  The  general  government  of  colleges  and 
universities  is  usually  vested  in  a  corporation  aggregate, 
which  is  preserved  by  a  succession  of  members.  "The 
President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard  College,"  says  Mr.  Quin- 
cy  in  his  History  of  Harvard  University,  "  being  the  only 
Corporation  in  the  Province,  and  so  continuing  during  the 
whole  of  the  seventeenth  century,  they  early  assumed,  and 
had  by  common  usage  conceded  to  them,  the  name  of"  The 
Corporation^'''^  by  which  they  designate  themselves  in  all 
the  early  records.  Their  proceedings  are  recorded  as  being 
done  '  at  a  meeting  of  the  Corporation^'^  or  introduced  by 
the  formula,  '  It  is  ordered  by  the  Corporation^^  without  stat- 
ing the  number  or  the  names  of  the  members  present,  until 
April  19th,  1675,  when,  under  President  Oakes,  the  names 
of  those  present  were  first  entered  on  the  records,  and  after- 
wards they  were  frequently,  though  not  uniformly,  inserted." 
—  Vol.  I.  p.  274. 

CORK.  )      In  some  of  the  Southern  colleges,  this  word,  with 
CALK.  \  a   derived   meaning,  signifies   a    complete    stopper. 
Used  in  the  sense  of  an  entire  failure  in  reciting ;  an  utter 
inability  to  answer  an  instructor's  interrogatories. 

COURTS.  At  Cambridge,  England,  the  squares  or  acres  into 
which  each  college  is  divided.  Called  at  Oxford,  quad- 
rangles, abbreviated,  quads.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantah. 

CRAM.  To  prepare  a  student  to  pass  an  examination*;  to 
study  in  view  of  examination.  In  the  latter  sense  used  in 
American  colleges. 

In  the  latter  [Euclid]  it  is  hardly  possible,  at  least  not  near  so 
easy  as  in  Logic,  to  present  the  semblance  of  preparation  by  learn- 
ing questions  and  answers  by  rote  :  —  in  the  cant  phrase  of  under- 
graduates, by  getting  crammed.  —  Whately's  Logic,  Preface. 
For  many  weeks  he  "  crams''^  him,  — •  daily  does  he  rehearse. 
Poem  before  the  ladma  of  Hurv,  Coll.,  1850. 
8 


86  COLLEGE   WORDS 

In  a  wider  sense,  to  prepare  another,  or  one's  self,  by  study 
for  any  occasion. 

The  members  of  the  bar  were  lounging  about  that  tabooed  precinct, 
some  smoking,  some  talking  and  laughing,  some  poring  over  long, 
ill-written  papers  or  large  calf-bound  books,  and  all  big  with  the 
ponderous  interests  depending  upon  them,  and  the  eloquence  and 
learning  with  which  they  were  "  crammec? "  for  the  occasion. — 
Talbot  and  Vernon. 

When  he  was  to  write  it  was  necessary  to  cram  him  with  the 
facts  and  points.  —  F,  K,  HunVs  Fourth  Estate,  1850. 

CRAM.     The  same  as  Cramming,  which  see. 

I  have  made  him  promise  to  give  me  four  or  five  evenings  of 
about  half  an  hour's  cram  each. —  Collegian^ s  Guide,  p.  240. 

2.  A  paper  on  which  is  written  something  necessary  to  be 
learned,  previous  to  an  examination. 

**Take  care  what  you  light  your  cigars  with,"  said  Belton, 
"  you  '11  be  burning  some  of  Tufton's  crams :  they  are  stuck  all 
about  the  pictures."  —  Collegian^ s  Guide,  p.  223. 

He  puzzled  himself  with  his  crams  he  had  in  his  pocket,  and 
copied  what  he  did  not  understand.  —  Ibid.,  p.  279. 

CRAMBAMBULI.     A  favorite  drink  among   the  students  in 

the  German  universities,  composed  of  burnt  rum  and  sugar. 

(£  r  a  m  b  a  m  b  u  ( t,  ba£f  tfl  t>er  Xitet 
2)eif  Xranf^/  bee  ftctj  bei  un^  be\T?a()rt. 

Drinking  song. 

To  the  next !  let  's  have  the  crambambuli  first,  however.  —  Yale 
Lit.  Mfl^.,  Vol.  XII.  p.  117. 

CRx\M  BOOK.  A  book  in  which  are  laid  down  such  topics 
as  constitute  an  examination,  together  with  the  requisite  an- 
swers to  the  questions  proposed  on  that  occasion. 

He    in    consequence   engages   a    private  tutor,   and    buys    all 
the  cram  books  published  for  the  occasion.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab. 
p.  128. 
CRAM  MAN.     One  who  is  cramming  for  an  examination. 

He  has  read  all  the  black-lettered  divinity  in  the  Bodleian,  and 
says  that  none  of  the  cram  men  shall  have  a  chance  with  him.  — 
Collegian'' s  Guide,  p.  274. 


AND   CUSTOMS. 


8f 


CRAMMER.     One  who  prepares  another  for  an  examination. 

The  qualifications  of  a  crammer  are  given  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  Collegian's  Guide.  "  The  first  point, 
therefore,  in  which  a  crammer  differs  from  other  tutors  is 
in  the  selection  of  subjects.  While  another  tutor  would 
teach  every  part  of  the  books  given  up,  he  virtually  re- 
duces their  quantity,  dwelling  chiefly  on  the  '  likely  parts.' 

"  The  second  point  in  which  a  crammer  excels  is  in  fixing 
the  attention,  and  reducing  subjects  to  the  comprehension  of 
ill-formed  and  undisciplined  minds. 

"  The  third  qualification  of  a  crammer  is  a  happy  man- 
ner and  address,  to  encourage  the  desponding,  to  animate 
the  idle,  and  to  make  the  exertions  of  the  pupil  continually 
increase  in  such  a  ratio,  that  he  shall  be  wound  up  to 
concert  pitch  by  the  day  of  entering  the  schools."  —  pp.  231, 
232. 

CRAMMING.  A  cant  term,  in  the  British  universities,  for 
the  act  of  preparing  a  student  to  pass  an  examination,  by 
going  over  the  topics  with  him  beforehand,  and  furnishing 
him  with  the  requisite  answers.  —  Webster, 

The  author  of  the  Collegian's  Guide,  speaking  of  exami- 
nations, says  :  "  First,  we  must  observe  that  all  examinations 
imply  the  existence  of  examiners,  and  examiners,  like  other 
mortal  beings,  lie  open  to  the  frauds  of  designing  men, 
through  the  uniformity  and  sameness  of  their  proceedings. 
This  uniformity  inventive  men  have  analyzed  and  reduced 
to  a  system,  founding  thereon  a  certain  science,  and  corre- 
sponding art,  called  Cramming.'^''  —  p.  229. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  torment  I  suffered  in  cramming  long  les- 
sons in  Greek  Grammar.  —  Dickens^s  Household  Words^  Vol.  I. 
p.  192. 

CRAM  PAPER.  A  paper  in  which  are  inserted  such  ques- 
tions as  are  generally  asked  at  an  examination.  The  man- 
ner in  which  these  questions  are  obtained  is  explained  in  the 
following  extract.  "  Every  pupil,  after  his  examination, 
comes  to  thank  him  as  a  matter  of  course ;  and  as  every 
man,  you  know,  is  loquacious  enough  on  such  occasions, 


88  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Tufton  gets  out  of  him  all  the  questions  he  was  asked  in  the 
schools  ;  and  according  to  these  questions,  he  has  moulded 
his  cram  papers.'*'*  —  Collegiari's  Gtiide^  p.  239. 

CROWS- FOOT.  At  Harvard  College  a  badge  formerly 
worn  on  the  sleeve,  resembling  a  crow's  foot,  to  denote  the 
class  to  which  a  student  belongs.  In  the  regulations  passed 
April  29,  1822,  for  establishing  the  style  of  dress  among  the 
students  at  Harvard  College,  we  find  the  following.  A  part 
of  the  dress  shall  be  "  three  crows-feet,  made  of  black  silk 
cord,  on  the  lower  part  of  the  sleeve  of  a  Senior,  two  on 
that  of  a  junior,  and  one  on  that  of  a  Sophomore."  The 
Freshmen  were  not  allowed  to  wear  the  crows-foot,  and  the 
custom  is  now  discontinued,  although  an  unsuccessful  at- 
tempt was  made  to  revive  it  a  few  years  ago. 

The  Freshman  scampers  off  at  the  first  bell  for  the  chapel, 
where,  finding  no  brother  student  of  a  higher  class  to  encourage 
his  punctuality,  he  crawls  back  to  watch  the  starting  of  some 
one  blessed  with  a  crows-foot,  to  act  as  vanguard.  —  Harv,  Reg. 
p.  377. 

The  corded  crows-feet,  and  the  collar  square, 
The  change  and  chance  of  earthly  lot  must  share. 

Class  Poem  at  Harv.  Coll,  1835,  p.  18. 

What  if  the  creature  should  arise,  — 

For  he  was  stout  and  tall, — 
And  swallow  down  a  Sophomore, 

Coat,  crows-foot,  cap,  and  all. 

Holmes's  Poems,  1850,  p.  109. 

A  small  portion  of  bread  or  beer  ;  a  term  formerly 
current  in  both  the  English  universities,  the  letter  q 
being  the  mark  in  the  buttery  books  to  denote  such  a 
Q  would  seem  to  stand  for  quadrans^  a  farthing  ; 
but  Minsheu  says  it  was  only  half  that  sum,  and  thus  partic- 
ularly explains  it :  "  Because  they  set  down  in  the  battling 
or  butterie  bookes  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  the  letter  q  for 
half  a  farthing  ;  and  in  Oxford  when  they  make  that  cue  or 
q  a  farthing,  they  say,  cap  my  q,  and  make  it  a  farthing, 
thus,  ;.  But  in  Cambridge  they  use  this  letter,  a  little  f ; 
thus,  f,  or  thus,  s,  for  a  farthing."     He  translates  it  in  Latin 


AND    CUSTOMS.  ^ 

calculus  pants.     Coles  has,  "  A  cue  [half  a  farthing]  minu- 
tum."  —  Nares'^s  Glossary, 

"  A  cue  of  bread,"  says  Halliwell,  "  is  the  fourth  part  of 
a  half-penny  crust.     A  cue  of  beer,  one  draught." 

J.  Woods,  under-butler  of  Christ  Church,  Oxon,  said  he  would 
never  sitt  capping  of  cues. —  TJrry^s  MS.  add.  to  Ray. 

You  are  still  at  Cambridge  with  size  kiie.  —  Orig.  of  Dr,,  iii. 
p.  271. 

He  never  drank  above  size  q  of  Helicon. — Eachard,  Contempt 
of  CI.,  1^.26. 

"  Cues  and  cees,"  says  Nares,  "  are  generally  mentioned 
together,  the  cee  meaning  a  small  measure  of  beer ;  but 
why,  is  not  equally  explained."  From  certain  passages  in 
which  they  are  used  interchangeably,  the  terms  do  not  seem 
to  have  been  well  defined. 

Hee  [the  college  butler]  domineers  over  freshmen,  when  they 
first  come  to  the  hatch,  and  puzzles  them  with  strange  language  of 
cues  and  cees,  and  some  broken  Latin,  which  he  has  learnt  at  his 
bin.  —  Earless  Micro-cosmo graphic,  (1628,)  Char.  17. 

The  word  cue  was  formerly  used  at  Harvard  College. 
Dr.  Holyoke,  who  graduated  in  1746,  says,  the  '*  breakfast 
was  two  sizings  of  bread  and  a  cue  of  beer."  Judge  Win- 
gate,  who  graduated  thirteen  years  after,  says  :  "  We  were 
allowed  at  dinner  a  cue  of  beer,  which  was  a  half-pint." 

CURL.  In  the  University  of  Virginia,  to  make  a  perfect  reci- 
tation ;  to  overwhelm  a  Professor  with  student  learning. 

CUT.  To  be  absent  from  a  recitation  or  any  college  exercise. 
Thus,  a  person  is  said  to  "  cut  prayers,"  to  "  cut  lecture," 
&c.  Also,  to  "  cut  Greek  "  or  "  Latin  "  ;  i.  e.  to  be  absent 
from  the  Greek  or  Latin  recitation.     Another  use  of  the 

word  is,  when  one  says,  "  I  cut  Dr.  B ,  or  Prof.  C , 

this  morning,"  meaning  that  he  was  absent  from  their  exer- 
cises. 

Prepare  to  cut  recitations,  cut  prayers,  cut  lectures,  —  ay,  to 
cut  even  the  President  himself. —  Oration  before  H,  L.  of  1.  O.  of 
O.  F.,  1848. 

Next  morn  he  cuts  his  maiden  prayer,  to  his  last  night's  text  abid- 
ing. —  Poem  before  F.  H.  of  Harv.  Coll.,  1849. 
8* 


90  COLLEGE   WORDS 

This  word  is  much  used  in  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
England,  as  appears  from  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  written  with  reference  to 
some  of  the  customs  there  observed  :  —  "I  remarked,  also, 
that  they  frequently  used  the  words  to  cut^  and  to  sport,  in 
senses  to  me  totally  unintelligible.  A  man  had  been  cut  in 
chapel,  cut  at  afternoon  lectures,  cut  in  his  tutor's  rooms, 
cut  at  a  concert,  cut  at  a  ball,  &c.  Soon,  however,  I  was 
told  of  men,  vice  versa^  who  cut  a  figure,  cut  chapel,  cut 
gates,  cut  lectures,  cut  hall,  cut  examinations,  cut  particular 
connections  ;  nay,  more,  I  was  informed  of  some  who  cut 
their  tutors  !  "  —  Gent.  Mag.,  1794,  p.  1085. 

The  instances  in  which  the  verb  to  cut  is  used  in  the  above 
extract  without  Italics,  are  now  very  common  both  in  Eng- 
land and  America. 

To  cut  Gates.  To  enter  college  after  ten  o'clock,  —  the 
hour  of  shutting  them.  —  Gradu3  ad  Cantab.,  p  40. 

The  two  rudimentary  lectures  which  he  was  at  first  forced  to  at- 
tend, are  now  pressed  less  earnestly  upon  his  notice.  In  fact,  he  can 
almost  entirely  "  cw^"  them,  if  he  likes,  and  does  cut  them  accord- 
ingly, as  a  waste  of  time.  —  Household  Words,  Vol.  II.  p.  160. 

CUT.     An  omission  of  a  recitation.     This  phrase  is  frequently 
heard  :  *'  We  had  a  cut  to-day  in  Greek,"  i.  e.  no  recitation 

in  Greek.      Again,  "  Prof.  D gave  us  a  cut,"  i.  e.  he 

had  no  recitation.  A  correspondent  from  Bowdoin  Col- 
lege gives  in  the  following  sentence  the  manner  in  which 
this  word  is  there  used.  "  Cuts.  When  a  class  for  any 
reason  become  dissatisfied  with  one  of  the  Faculty,  they 
absent  themselves  from  his  recitation,  as  an  expression  of 
their  feelings." 


AND    CUSTOMS.  91 


D. 


D.  C.  L.  An  abbreviation  for  Doctor  Civilis  Legis,  Doctor 
in  Civil  Law.  At  the  University  of  Oxford,  England,  this 
degree  is  conferred  five  years  after  receiving  the  degree  of 
A.  B.     The  exercises  are  three  lectures. 

D.  D.  An  abbreviation  of  Divinitatis  Doctor^  Doctor  in  Di- 
vinity. At  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  this 
degree  is  conferred  on  a  B.  D.  of  five,  or  an  A.  M.  of  twelve 
years'  standing.  The  exercises  are  one  act,  two  opponen- 
cies,  a  clerum,  and  an  English  sermon.  At  Oxford  it  is 
given  to  a  B.  D.  of  four,  or  an  A.  M.  of  eleven  years'  stand- 
ing. The  exercises  are  three  lectures.  In  American  col- 
leges this  degree  is  honorary,  and  is  conferred  pro  meritis^ 
on  those  who  are  distinguished  as  theologians. 

DEAD.  To  be  unable  to  recite  ;  to  be  ignorant  of  the  lesson ; 
to  declare  one's  self  unprepared  to  recite. 

Be  ready,  in  fine,  to  cut,  to  drink,  to  smoke,  to  dead.  —  Oration 
before  H.  L,  of  I.  O.  of  O.  F,,  1848. 

I  see  our  whole  lodge  desperately  striving  to  dead,  by  doing 
that  hardest  of  all  work,  nothing.  —  Ibid.,  1849. 

Transitively  ;  to  cause  one  to  fail  in  reciting.  Said  of  a 
teacher  who  puzzles  a  scholar  with  difficult  questions,  and 
thereby  causes  him  to  fail. 

Have  I  been  screwed,  yea,  deaded  morn  and  eve, 
Some  dozen  moons  of  this  collegiate  life, 
And  not  yet  taught  me  to  philosophize  1 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  255. 

DEAD.  A  complete  failure  ;  a  declaration  that  one  is  not 
prepared  to  recite. 

One  must  stand  up  in  the  singleness  of  his  ignorance  to  under- 
stand all  the  mysterious  feelings  connected  with  a  c?eac?.  —  Harv, 
Reg.,  p.  378. 

And  fearful  of  the  morrow's  screw  or  dead, 
Takes  book  and  candle  underneath  his  bed. 
Class  Poem,  by  B,  D,  Winslow,  at  Harv.  Coll,  1835,  p.  10. 


92  COLLEGE    WORDS 

He,  unmoved  by  Freshman's  curses, 

Loves  the  deads  which  Freshmen  make.  —  MS.  Poem. 

It  was  formerly  customary  in  many  colleges,  and  is  now 
in  a  few,  to  talk  about  *'  taking  a  dead." 

I  have  a  most  instinctive  dread 
Of  getting  up  to  take  a  dead, 

Unworthy  degradation  !  — Harv,  Reg.,  p.  312. 

DEAD-SET.     The  same  as  a  Dead,  which  see. 

Now  's  the  day  and  now  's  the  hour  ; 
See  approach  Old  Sikes's  power  ; 
See  the  front  of  Logic  lower ; 

Screws,  dead  sets,  and  fines.  —  Rehelliad,  p.  52. 

Grose  has  this  word  in  his  Slang  Dictionary,  and  defines 
it  "  a  concerted  scheme  to  defraud  a  person  by  gaming." 
"  This  phrase,"  says  Bartlett,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Ameri- 
canisms, "  seems  to  be  taken  from  the  lifeless  attitude  of  a 
pointer  in  marking  his  game." 

"  The  lifeless  attitude  "  seems  to  be  the  only  point  of  re- 
semblance between  the  above  definitions,  and  the  appear- 
ance of  one  who  is  taking  a  dead  set.  The  word  has  of  late 
years  been  displaced  by  the  more  general  use  of  the  word 
dead^  with  the  same  meaning. 

DEAN.  An  officer  in  each  college  of  the  universities  in  Eng- 
land, whose  duties  consist  in  the  due  preservation  of  the 
college  discipline. 

"  Old  Holingshed,"  says  the  Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam, 
"  in  his  Chronicles,  describing  Cambridge,  speaks  of '  certain 
censors,  or  deanes,  appointed  to  looke  to  the  behaviour  and 
manner  of  the  Students  there,  whom  they  punish  very  se- 
verely^ if  they  make  any  default,  according  to  the  quantitye 
and  qualitye  of  their  trespasses.'  When  fiagellation  was 
enforced  at  the  Universities,  the  Deans  were  the  Ministers 
of  Vengeance."  tn  the  older  American  colleges,  whipping 
and  cuffing  were  inflicted  by  a  tutor,  professor,  or  presi- 
dent ;  the  latter,  however,  usually  employed  an  agent  for 
this  purpose. 

See  under  Corporal  Punishment. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  93 

2.  In  the  United  States,  a  registrar  of  the  faculty  in  some 
colleges,  and  especially  in  medical  institutions.  —  Webster, 

A  dean  may  also  be  appointed  by  the  Faculty  of  each  Profes- 
sional School,  if  deemed  expedient  by  the  Corporation.  —  Laws 
Univ.  at  Cam.,  Mass.,  1848,  p.  8. 

DEAN'S  BOUNTY.  In  1730,  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  Berke- 
ley, then  Dean  of  Derry,  in  Ireland,  came  to  America,  and 
resided  a  year  or  two  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  "  where," 
says  Clap,  in  his  History  of  Yale  College,  "  he  purchased  a 
country  seat,  with  about  ninety-six  acres  of  land."  On  his  re- 
turn to  London,  in  1733,  he  sent  a  deed  of  his  farm  in  Rhode 
Island  to  Yale  College,  in  which  it  was  ordered,  "  that  the 
rents  of  the  farm  should  be  appropriated  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  three  best  scholars  in  Greek  and  Latin,  who  should 
reside  at  College  at  least  nine  months  in  a  year,  in  each  of 
the  three  years  between  their  first  and  second  degrees." 
President  Clap  further  remarks,  that  "  this  Premium  has 
been  a  great  incitement  to  a  laudable  ambition  to  excel  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  classics."  It  was  commonly  known 
as  the  Dearies  bounty.  —  Clap^s  Hist,  of  Yale  Coll.^  pp. 
37,  38. 

The  Dean  afterwards  conveyed  to  it  [Yale  College],  by  a  deed 
transmitted  to  Dr.  Johnson,  his  Rhode  Island  farm,  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  that  Dean^s  bounty,  to  which  sound  classical  learning 
in  Connecticut  has  been  much  indebted.  —  Hist.  Sketch  of  Colum- 
bia Coll.,  p.  19. 

DEAN  SCHOLAR.  The  person  who  received  the  money 
appropriated  by  Dean  Berkeley  was  called  the  Dean  scholar. 

This  premium  was  formerly  called  the  Dean's  bounty,  and  the 
person  who  received  it  the  Dean  scholar.  —  Sketches  of  Yale  Coll, 
p.  87. 

DECENT.  Tolerable  ;  pretty  good.  He  is  a  decent  scholar ; 
a  decent  writer ;  he  is  nothing  more  than  decent.  "  This 
word,"  says  Mr.  Pickering,  in  his  Vocabulary,  "  has  been  in 
common  use  at  some  of  our  colleges,  but  only  in  the  lan- 
guage of  conversation.  The  adverb  decently  (and  possibly 
the  adjective  also)  is  sometimes  used  in  a  similar  manner  in 
some  parts  of  Great  Britain." 


94  COLLEGE    WORDS 

The  greater  part  of  the  pieces  it  contains  may  be  said  to  be  very 
decently  written.  —  Edinb.  Rev,,  Vol.  I.  p.  426. 

DECLAMATION.  The  word  is  applied  especially  to  the 
public  speaking  and  speeches  of  students  in  colleges,  prac- 
tised for  exercises  in  oratory.  —  Webster, 

It  would  appear  by  the  following  extract  from  the  old 
laws  of  Harvard  College,  that  original  declamations  were 
formerly  required  of  the  students.  "  The  Undergraduates 
shall  in  their  course  declaim  publicly  in  the  hall,  in  one  of 
the  three  learned  languages ;  and  in  no  other  without  leave 
or  direction  from  the  President,  and  immediately  give  up  their 
declamations  fairly  written  to  the  President.  And  he  that 
neglects  this  exercise  shall  be  punished  by  the  President  or 
Tutor  that  calls  over  the  weekly  bill,  not  exceeding  five 
shillings.  And  such  delinquent  shall  within  one  week  after 
give  in  to  the  President  a  written  declamation  subscribed  by 
himself." — Laws  1734,  in  Peirce^s  Hist,  Harv,  Univ,^ 
App.,  p.  129. 

DECLAMATION  BOARDS.  At  Bowdoin  College,  small 
establishments  in  the  rear  of  each  building,  for  urinary  pur- 
poses. 

DEDUCTION.  In  some  of  the  American  colleges,  one  of  the 
minor  punishments  for  non-conformity  with  laws  and  regu- 
lations is  deducting  from  the  marks  which  a  student  receives 
for  recitations  and  other  exercises,  and  by  which  his  stand- 
ing in  the  class  is  determined. 

DEGRADATION.  In  the  older  American  colleges,  it  was 
formerly  customary  to  arrange  the  members  of  each  class 
in  an  order  determined  by  the  rank  of  the  parent.  "  Deg- 
radation consisted  in  placing  a  student  on  the  list,  in  conse- 
quence of  some  offence,  below  the  level  to  which  his  father's 
condition  would  assign  him  ;  and  thus  declared  that  he  had 
disgraced  his  family." 

In  the  Immediate  Government  Book,  No.  IV.,  of  Harvard 
College,  date  July  20th,  1776,  is  the  following  entry  : 
"  Voted,  that  Trumbal,  a  Middle  Bachelor,  who  was  de- 
graded to  the  bottom  of  his  class  for  his  misdemeanors  when 


AND    CUSTOMS.  99 

an  undergraduate,  having  presented  an  humble  confession 
of  his  faults,  with  a  petition  to  be  restored  to  his  place  in 
the  class  in  the  (Catalogue  now  printing,  be  restored  agree- 
able to  his  request."  The  Triennial  Catalogue  for  that  year 
was  the  first  in  which  the  names  of  the  students  appeared  in 
an  alphabetical  order.  The  class  of  1773  was  the  first  in  ( 
which  the  change  was  made.  ' 

"  The  punishment  of  degradation,"  says  President  Wool- 
sey,  in  his  Historical  Discourse  before  the  Graduates  of 
Yale  College,  "  laid  aside  not  very  long  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Revolutionary  war,  was  still  more  characteristic 
of  the  times.  It  was  a  method  of  acting  upon  the  aristo- 
cratic feelings  of  family  ;  and  we  at  this  day  can  hardly 
conceive  to  what  extent  the  social  distinctions  were  then 
acknowledged  and  cherished.  In  the  manuscript  laws  of 
the  infant  College  we  find  the  following  regulation,  which 
was  borrowed  from  an  early  ordinance  of  Harvard  under 
President  Dunster.  '  Every  student  shall  be  called  by  his 
sirname,  except  he  be  the  son  of  a  nobleman,  or  a  knight's 
eldest  son.'  I  know  not  whether  such  a  '  rara  avis  in  terris' 
ever  received  the  honors  of  the  College ;  but  a  kind  of  colo- 
nial, untitled  aristocracy  grew  up,  composed  of  the  families 
of  chief  magistrates,  and  of  other  civilians  and  ministers. 
In  the  second  year  of  college  life,  precedency  according  to 
the  aristocratic  scale  was  determined,  and  the  arrangement 
of  names  on  the  class  roll  was  in  accordance.  This  appears 
on  our  Triennial  Catalogue  until  1768,  when  the  minds  of 
men  began  to  be  imbued  with  the  notion  of  equality.  Thus, 
for  instance,  Gurdon  Saltonstall,  son  of  the  Governor  of  that 
name,  and  descendant  of  Sir  Richard,  the  first  emigrant  of 
the  family,  heads  the  class  of  1725,  and  names  of  the  same 
stock  begin  the  lists  of  1752  and  1756.  It  must  have  been  ^ 
a  pretty  delicate  matter  to  decide  precedence  in  a  multitude 
of  cases,  as  in  that  of  the  sons  of  members  of  the  council  or  . 
of  ministers,  to  v^hich  class  many  of  the  scholars  belonged. 
The  story  used  to  circulate,  as  I  dare  say  many  of  the 
older  graduates  remember,  that  a  shoemaker's  son,  being 
questioned  as  to  the  quality  of  his  father,  replied,  that  he 


96  COLLEGE   WORDS 

was  upon  the  bench,  which  gave   him,  of  course,  a  high 
place."  —  pp.  48,  49. 

See  under  Place.  * 

DEGREE.  A  mark  of  distinction  conferred  on  students,  as  a 
testimony  of  their  proficiency  in  arts  and  sciences ;  giving 
them  a  kind  of  rank,  and  entitling  them  to  certain  privileges. 
This  is  usually  evidenced  by  a  diploma.  Degrees  are  con- 
ferred pro  meritis  on  the  alumni  of  a  college  ;  or  they  are 
honorary  tokens  of  respect,  conferred  on  strangers  of  dis- 
tinguished reputation.  The  first  degree  is  that  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts ;  the  second^  that  of  Master  of  Arts,  Honorary 
degrees  are  those  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  Doctor  of  Laws, 
&c.  Physicians,  also,  receive  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine,  —  Wehster, 

DELTA.  A  piece  of  land  in  Cambridge,  which  belongs  to 
Harvard  College,  where  the  students  kick  football,  and  play 
at  cricket,  and  other  games.  The  shape  of  the  land  is  that 
of  the  Greek  A,  whence  its  name. 

What  was  unmeetest  of  all,  timid  strangers  as  we  were,  it  was 
expected  on  the  first  Monday  eventide  after  oar  arrival,  that  we 
should  assemble  on  a  neighboring  green,  the  Delta,  since  devoted 
to  the  purposes  of  a  gymnasium,  there  to  engage  in  a  furious  con- 
test with  those  enemies,  the  Sophs,  at  kicking  football  and  shins. 
—  A  Tour  through  College,  1823-1827,  p.  13. 

Where  are  the  royal  cricket  matches  of  old,  the  great  games  of 
football,  when  the  obtaining  of  victory  was  a  point  of  honor,  and 
crowds  assembled  on  the  Delta  to  witness  the  all-absorbing  con- 
test?—  Harvardiana,  Vol.  I.  p.  107. 

I  must  have  another  pair  of  pantaloons  soon,  for  I  have  burst  the 
knees  of  two,  in  kicking  football  on  the  Delta,  —  Ibid.,  Vol.  III. 
p.  77. 

The  Delta  can  tell  of  the  deeds  we  've  done. 
The  fierce  fought  fields  we  've  lost  and  won, 
The  shins  we  've  cracked, 
And  noses  we  've  whacked, 
The  eyes  we  've  blacked,  and  all  in  fun. 

Class  Poem,  1849,  Harv.  Coll. 

DEMI,    )      The  name    of  a  scholar   at  Magdalen  College, 
DEMY.  )  Oxford,   where    there    are  thirty   demies    or   half- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  97 

fellows,  as  it  were,  who,  like  scholars  in  other  colleges,  suc- 
ceed to  fellowships.  —  Johnson, 

DETERMINING.  In  the  University  of  Oxford,  a  Bachelor 
is  entitled  to  his  degree  of  A.  M.  twelve  terms  after  the 
regular  time  for  taking  his  first  degree,  having  previously 
gone  through  the  ceremony  of  determining^  which  exercise 
consists  in  reading  two  dissertations  in  Latin  prose,  or  one 
in  prose  and  a  copy  of  Latin  verses.  As  this  takes  place 
in  Lent,  it  is  commonly  called  determining  in  Lent,  — 
Oxf.  Guide. 

DETUR.     Latin  ;  literally,  let  it  le  given. 

In  1657,  the  Hon.  Edward  Hopkins,  dying,  left,  among 
other  donations  to  Harvard  College,  one  '^  to  be  applied  to 
the  purchase  of  books  for  presents  to  meritorious  under- 
graduates." The  distribution  of  these  books  is  made,  at  the 
commencement  of  each  academic  year,  to  students  of  the 
Sophomore  Class,  who  have  made  meritorious  progress  in 
their  studies  ;  also,  as  far  as  the  state  of  the  funds  admits,  to 
those  members  of  the  Junior  Class  who  entered  as  Sopho- 
mores, and  have  made  meritorious  progress  in  their  studies 
during  the  Sophomore  year,  and  to  such  Juniors  as,  having 
failed  to  receive  a  detur  at  the  commencement  of  the  Sopho- 
more year,  have,  during  that  year,  made  decided  improve- 
ment in  scholarship.  —  Laws  of  Univ.  at  Cam.^  Mass.,,  1848, 
p.  18. 

"  From  the  first  word  in  the   short  Latin  label,"  Peirce 
says,  "  which  is  signed  by  the  President,  and  attached  to  the 
inside  of  the   cover,  a  book  presented    from  this  fund    is 
familiarly  called  a  Detur.''''  —  Hist,  Harv.  Univ,^  p.  103. 
Now  formy  books  ;  first  Bunyan's  Pilgrim, 
(As  he  with  thankful  pleasure  will  grin,) 
Tho'  dogleaved,  torn,  in  bad  type  set  in, 

'T  will  do  quite  well  for  classmate  B , 

And  thus  with  complaisance  to  treat  her, 
'T  will  answer  for  another  Detur. 

The  Will  of  Charles  Chatterbox. 

DEN.     One  of  the  buildings  formerly  attached  to  Harvard 
9 


98  COLLEGE   WORDS 

College,  which  was  taken  down  about  six  years  ago,  was  for 
more  than  a  half-century  known  by  the  name  of  the  Den. 
It  was  occupied  by  students  during  the  greater  part  of  that 
period,  although  it  was  originally  built  for  private  use.  In 
later  years,  from  its  appearance,  both  externally  and  inter- 
nally, it  fully  merited  its  cognomen ;  but  this  is  supposed  to 
have  originated  from  the  following  incident,  which  occurred 
within  its  walls  about  the  year  1770,  the  time  when  it  was 
built.  The  north  portion  of  the  house  was  occupied  by  Mr. 
Wiswal  (to  whom  it  belonged)  and  his  family.  His  wife, 
who  was  then  ill,  and,  as  it  afterwards  proved,  fatally,  was 
attended  by  a  woman  who  did  not  bear  a  very  good  charac- 
ter, to  whom  Mr.  Wiswal  seemed  to  be  more  attentive  than 
was  consistent  with  the  character  of  a  true  and  loving  hus- 
band. About  six  weeks  after  Mrs.  WiswaPs  death,  Mr. 
Wiswal  espoused  the  nurse,  which  circumstance  gave  great 
offence  to'Ithe  good  people  of  Cambridge,  and  was  the 
cause  of  much  scandal  among  the  gossips.  One  Sunday, 
not  long  after  this  second  marriage,  Mr.  Wiswal  having  gone 
to  church,  his  wife,  who  did  not  accompany  him,  began  an 
examination  of  her  predecessor's  wardrobe  and  possessions, 
with  the  intention,  as  was  supposed,  of  appropriating  to  her- 
self whatever  had  been  left  by  the  former  Mrs.  Wiswal  to 
her  children.  On  his  return  from  church,  Mr.  Wiswal, 
missing  his  wife,  after  searching  for  some  time,  found  her 
at  last  in  the  kitchen,  convulsively  clutching  the  dresser,  her 
eyes  staring  wildly,  she  herself  being  unable  to  speak.  In 
this  state  of  insensibility  she  remained  until  her  decease, 
which  occurred  shortly  after.  Although  it  was  evident  that 
she  had  been  seized  with  convulsions,  and  that  these  were 
the  cause  of  her  death,  the  old  women  '.were  careful  to 
promulgate,  and  their  daughters  to  transmit  the  story,  that 
the  Devil  had  appeared  to  her  in  propria  persona,  and 
shaken  her  to  pieces,  as  a  punishment  for  her  crimes.  The 
building  was  purchased  by  Harvard  College  in  the  year 
1774. 

In  the  Federal  Orrery,  March  26,  1795,  is  an  article 
dated  Wiswal-Den,  Cambridge,  which  title  it  also  bore,  from 
the  name  of  its  former  occupant. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  99 

Many  years  ago  there  emigrated  to  this  University  from  the 
wilds  of  New  Hampshire,  an  odd  genius,  by  the  name  of  Jedediah 
Croak,  who  took  up  his  abode  as  a  student  in  the  old  Den.  —  Har- 
vard Register,  1827  -  28,  A  Legend  of  the  Den,  pp.  82  -  86. 

DIG.     To  study  hard  ;  to  spend  much  time  in  studying. 
Another,  in  his  study  chair, 
Digs  up  Greek  roots  with  learned  care,  — 
Unpalatable  eating. 

Harv.  Reg.,  1827-28,  p.  247. 
Here  the  sunken  eye  and  sallow  countenance  bespoke  the  man 
who  dug  sixteen  hours  "  per  diem."  —  Ibid.,  p.  303. 

Some  have  gone  to  lounge  away  an  hour  in  the  libraries,  —  some 
to  ditto  in  the  grove,  —  some  to  dig  upon  the  afternoon  lesson. — 
Amherst  Indicator,  Vol.  I.  p.  77. 

DIG.     A  diligent  student ;  one  who  learns  his  lessons  by  hard 
and  long-continued  exertion. 

A  clever  soul  is  one,  I  say. 
Who  wears  a  laughing  face  all  day. 
Who  never  misses  declamation. 
Nor  cuts  a  stupid  recitation. 
And  yet  is  no  elaborate  dig^ 
Nor  for  rank  systems  cares  a  fig. 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  283. 
•    I  could  see,  in  the  long  vista  of  the  past,  the  many  honest  digs 
who  had  in  this  room  consumed  the  midnight  oil. —  Collegian,  p. 
231. 

Resolves  that  he  will  be,  in  spite  of  toil  or  of  fatigue. 
That  humbug  of  all  humbugs,  the  staid,  inveterate  "  dig,^'' 

Poem  before  ladma  of  Harv,  Coll.,  1850. 
The  fact  that  I  am  thus  getting  the  character  of  a  man  of  no 
talent  and  a  mere  *'  dig,'^''  does,  I  confess,  weigh  down  my  spirits. 
—  Amherst  Indicator,  Vol.  I.  p.  224. 

By  this  't  is  that  we  get  ahead  of  the  Dig, 

'T  is  not  we  that  prevail,  but  the  wine  that  we  swig. 

Ibid.,  Vol.  n.  p.  252. 

DIGGING.     The  act  of  studying  hard  ;  diligent  application. 
I  find  my  eyes  in  doleful  case, 
By  digging  until  midnight. 

Harv.  Reg.,  p.  312. 


100  COLLEGE  WORDS 

I  've  had  an  easy  time  in  College,  and  enjoyed  well  the  **  Otium 
cum  dignitate,"  —  the  learned  leisure  of  a  scholar's  life,  —  always 
despised  diggings  you  know.  — Ibid.,  p.  194. 

How  often  after  his  day  of  digging,  when  he  comes  to  lay  his 
weary  head  to  rest,  he  finds  the  cruel  sheets  giving  him  no  admit- 
tance. —  Ibid.,  p.  377. 

Hopes  to  hit  the  mark 
By  digging  nightly  into  matters  dark. 

Class  Poem,  Harv.  Coll.,  1835. 

He  "  makes  up  "  for  past  "  digging.'''' 

ladma  Poem,  Harv.  Coll.,  1850. 

DIGNITY.  At  Bowdoin  College,  "  dignity,''''  says  a  corre- 
spondent, *'  is  the  name  applied  to  the  regular  holidays,  vary- 
ing from  one  half-day  per  week,  during  the  Freshman  year, 
up  to  four  in  the  Senior." 

DIKED.  At  the  University  of  Virginia,  one  who  is  dressed 
with  more  than  ordinary  elegance  is  said  to  be  diked  out. 
Probably  corrupted  from  the  word  decked,  or  the  nearly  ob- 
solete dighted, 

DIPLOMA.  Greek,  biTrXafjLa^  from  StTrXoo),  to  double  or  fold. 
Anciently,  a  letter  or  other  composition  written  on  paper  or 
parchment,  and  folded  ;  afterward,  any  letter,  literary  monu- 
ment, or  public  document.  A  letter  or  writing  conferring 
some  power,  authority,  privilege,  or  honor.  Diplomas  are 
given  to  graduates  of  colleges  on  their  receiving  the  usual 
degrees;  to  clergymen  who  are  licensed  to  exercise  the 
ministerial  functions ;  to  physicians  who  are  licensed  to 
practise  their  profession ;  and  to  agents  who  are  authorized 
to  transact  business  for  their  principals.  A  diploma,  then,  is 
a  writing  or  instrument,  usually  under  seal,  and  signed  by 
the  proper  person  or  officer,  conferring  merely  honor,  as  in 
the  case  of  graduates,  or  authority,  as  in  the  case  of  physi- 
cians, agents,  &c.  —  Webster. 

DISCIPLINE.     The  punishments  which  are  at  present  gen- 
erally adopted  in  American  colleges,  are  warning,  admoni- 
J  tion,  the  letter  home,  suspension,  rustication,  and  expulsion. 
j  Formerly  they  were  more   numerous,  and  their  execution 


AND   CUSTOMS.  101 

was  attended  with  great  solemnity.  "  The  discipline  of  the 
College,"  says  President  Quincy,  in  his  History  of  Harvard 
University,  '*  was  enforced  and  sanctioned  by  daily  visits  of 
the  tutors  to  the  chambers  of  the  students,  fines,  admoni- 
tions, confession  in  the  Hall,  publicly  asking  pardon,  degra- 
dation to  the  bottom  of  the  class,  striking  the  name  from 
the  College  list,  and  expulsion,  according  to  the  nature  and 
aggravation  of  the  offence."  —  Vol.  I.  p.  442. 

Of  Yale  College,  President  Woolsey'in^Mj!.  Historical  i;)js<^^ 
course  says  :  "  The  old  system  of'  discipline  ,m,ay  be,  <Je- 
scribed  in  general  as  consisting  of  a  series  of  nvinAr^jii3h-» 
ments  for  various  petty  offences,  while  the  more  extreme 
measure  of  separating  a  student  from  College  seems  not  to 
have  been  usually  adopted  until  long  forbearance  had  been 
found  fruitless,  even  in  cases  which  would  now  be  visited 
in  all  American  colleges  with  speedy  dismission.  The 
chief  of  these  punishments  named  in  the  laws  are  imposition 
of  school  exercises,  —  of  which  we  find  little  notice  after 
the  first  foundation  of  the  College,  but  which  we  believe  yet 
exists  in  the  colleges  of  England  ;  *  deprivation  of  the  privi- 
lege of  sending  Freshmen  upon  errands,  or  extension  of  the 
period  during  which  this  servitude  should  be  required  be- 
yond the  end  of  the  Freshman  year  ;  fines  either  specified,  of 
which  there  are  a  very  great  number  in  the  earlier  laws,  or 
arbitrarily  imposed  by  the  officers  ;  admonition  and  degra- 
dation. For  the  offence  of  mischievously  ringing  the  bell, 
which  was  very  common  whilst  the  bell  was  in  an  exposed 
situation  over  an  entry  of  a  college  building,  students  were 
sometimes  required  to  act  as  the  butler's  waiters  in  ringing 
the  bell  for  a  certain  time."  —  pp.  46,  47. 

See  under  titles  Admonition,  Confession,  Corporal 
Punishment,  Degradation,  Fines,  Letter  Home,  Sus- 
pension, &c. 

DISMISS.     To  separate  from  college,  for  an  indefinite  or  lim- 
ited time. 


*  See  under  Imposition. 
9* 


102  COLLEGE   WORDS 

DISMISSION.  In  college  government,  dismission  is  the  sepa- 
ration of  a  student  from  a  college,  for  an  indefinite  or  for  a 
limited  time,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Faculty.  It  is  required 
of  the  dismissed  student,  on  applying  for  readmittance  to  his 
own  or  any  other  class,  to  furnish  satisfactory  testimonials 
of  good  conduct  during  his  separation,  and  to  appear,  on  ex- 
amination, to  be  well  qualified  for  such  readmission.  —  Col- 
lege Laws, 

DISPENS^XION.  .The  granting  of  a  license,  or  the  license 
itself,  to  do  what  is  forbidden  by  law,  or  to  omit  something 
which  is  commanded.  In  colleges,  an  exemption  from  at- 
tending a  college  exercise. 

All  the  students,  who  are  under  twenty-one  years  of  age,  may 
be  excused  from  attending  the  private  Hebrew  lectures  of  the  Pro- 
fessor, upon  their  producing  to  the  President  a  certificate  from 
their  parents  or  guardians,  desiring  a  dispensation.  —  Laws  Harv, 
Coll.,  1798,  p.  12. 

DISPERSE.  A  favorite  word  with  tutors  and  proctors  ;  used 
when  speaking  to  a  number  of  students  unlawfully  collected. 
This  technical  use  of  the  word  is  burlesqued  in  the  follow- 
ing passages. 

Minerva  conveys  the  Freshman  to  his  room,  where  his  cries 
make  such  a  disturbance,  that  a  proctor  enters  and  commands  the 
blue-eyed  goddess  *'  to  disperse.^''  This  order  she  reluctantly  obeys. 
—  Harvardiana,  Vol.  IV.  p.  23. 

And  often  grouping  on  the  chains,  he  hums  his  own  sweet  verse, 

Till  Tutor coming  up,  commands  him  to  disperse. 

Poem  before  Y.  H.  Harv.  Coll,  1849. 

DISPUTATION.  An  exercise  in  colleges,  in  which  parties 
reason  in  opposition  to  each  other,  on  some  question  pro- 
posed. —  Webster, 

Disputations  were  formerly,  in  American  colleges,  a  part 
of  the  exercises  on  Commencement  and  Exhibition  Days. 

DISPUTE.  To  contend  in  argument;  to  reason  or  argue  in 
opposition.  —  Webster. 

The  two  Senior  classes  shall  dispute  once  or  twice  a  week 
before  the  Presiclent,  a  Professor,  or  the  Tutor.  —  Laws  Yale  Coll, 
1837,  p.  15. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  103 

DIVINITY.  A  member  of  a  theological  school  is  often 
familiarly  called  a  Divinity^  abbreviated  for  a  Divinity 
student. 

One  of  the  young  Divinities  passed 
Straight  through  the  College  yard. 

Childe  Harvard,  p.  40. 

DOCTOR.  One  who  has  passed  all  the  degrees  of  a  faculty, 
and  is  empowered  to  practise  and  teach  it ;  as,  a  doctor  in 
divinity,  in  physic,  in  law ;  or,  according  to  modern  usage, 
a  person  who  has  received  the  highest  degree  in  a  faculty. 
The  degree  of  doctor  is  conferred  by  universities  and  col- 
leges, as  an  honorary  mark  of  literary  distinction.  It  is 
also  conferred  on  physicians  as  a  professional  degree.  — 
Webster. 

DOCTORATE.     The  degree  of  a  doctor.  —  Webster. 

The  first  diploma  for  a  doctorate  in  divinity  given  in 
America  was  presented  under  the  seal  of  Harvard  College 
to  Mr.  Increase  Mather,  the  President  of  that  institution, 
in  the  year  1692.  —  Peirce^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  App., 
p.  68. 

DODGE.     A  trick ;  an  artifice  or  stratagem  for  the  purpose 
of  deception.     Used  often  with  come,  as,  "  to  come  a  dodge 
over  him." 
No  artful  dodge  to  leave  my  school  could  I  just  then  prepare. 
Poem  before  ladma,  Harv.  Coll.t  1850. 

Agreed  ;  but  I  have  another  dodge  as  good  as  yours.  —  Col- 
legiari^s  Guide,  p.  240. 

DOMINUS.  A  title  bestowed  on  Bachelors  of  Arts,  in  Eng- 
land. Bominus  Nokes ;  Dominus  Stiles.  —  Gradus  ad 
Cantab, 

DON.  In  the  English  universities,  a  short  generic  term  for 
all  university  authorities. 

He  had  already  told  a  lie  to  the  Dons,  by  protesting  against  the 
justice  of  his  sentence. —  Collegian'' s  Guide,  p.  169. 

Never  to  order  in  any  wine  from  an  Oxford  merchant,  at  least 
not  till  I  am  a  Don.  —  The  Etonian,  Vol.  II.  p.  288. 


104  COLLEGE   WORDS 

DORMIAT.  Latin  ;  literally,  let  him  sleep.  To  take  out  a 
a  dormiat^  i.  e.  a  license  to  sleep.  The  licensed  person  is 
excused  from  attending  early  prayers  in  the  Chapel,  from  a 
plea  of  being  indisposed.  Used  in  the  English  universities. 
—  Gradus  ad  Cantah. 

DOUBLE  MARKS.  It  was  formerly  the  custom  in  Harvard 
College  with  the  Professors  in  Rhetoric,  when  they  had  ex- 
amined and  corrected  the  themes  of  the  students,  to  draw  a 
straight  line  on  the  back  of  each  one  of  them,  under  the 
name  of  the  writer.  Under  the  names  of  those  whose 
themes  were  of  more  than  ordinary  correctness  or  elegance, 
two  lines  were  drawn,  which  were  called  double  marks. 

Many,  if  not  the  greater  part  of  Paine's  themes,  were  written  in 
verse ;  and  his  vanity  was  gratified,  and  his  emulation  roused,  by 
the  honor  of  constant  double  marks,  —  Works  of  R.  T,  Paine,  Biog- 
raphy,  p.  xxii.,  ed.  1812. 

See  Theme. 

DOUGH-BALL.  At  the  Anderson  Collegiate  Institute,  Indi- 
ana,  a  name  given  by  the  town's  people  to  a  student. 

DRESS.  A  uniformity  in  dress  has  never  been  so  prevalent 
in  American  colleges,  as  in  the  English  and  other  univer- 
sities. About  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  however,  the 
habit  among  the  students  of  Harvard  College  of  wearing  gold 
lace  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Overseers,  and  a  law  was 
passed  "  requiring  that  on  no  occasion  any  of  the  scholars 
wear  any  gold  or  silver  lace,  or  any  gold  or  silver  brocades 
in  the  College  or  town  of  Cambridge,"  and  "  that  no  one 
wear  any  silk  night-gowns."  "  In  1786,"  says  Quincy, 
"  in  order  to  lessen  the  expense  of  dress,  a  uniform  was  pre- 
scribed, the  color  and  form  of  which  were  minutely  set 
forth,  with  a  distinction  of  the  classes  by  means  of  frogs  on 
the  cuffs  and  button-holes ;  silk  was  prohibited,  and  home 
manufactures  were  recommended."  This  system  of  uniform 
is  fully  described  in  the  laws  of  1790,  and  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  All  the  Undergraduates  shall  be  clothed  in  coats  of  blue 
gray,  and  with  waistcoats  and  breeches  of  the  same  color,  or 
of  a  black,  a  nankeen,  or  an  olive  color.     The  coats  of  the 


AND    CUSTOMS.  105 

Freshmen  shall  have  plain  button-holes.  The  cuffs  shall  be 
without  buttons.  The  coats  of  the  Sophomores  shall  have 
plain  button-holes  like  those  of  the  Freshmen,  but  the  cuffs 
shall  have  buttons.  The  coats  of  the  Juniors  shall  have 
cheap  frogs  to  the  button-holes,  except  the  button-holes  of 
the  cuffs.  The  coats  of  the  Seniors  shall  have  frogs  to  the 
button-holes  of  the  cuffs.  The  buttons  upon  the  coats  of  all 
the  classes  shall  be  as  near  the  color  of  the  coats  as  they 
can  be  procured,  or  of  a  black  color.  And  no  student  shall 
appear  within  the  limits  of  the  College,  or  town  of  Cambridge, 
in  any  other  dress  than  in  the  uniform  belonging  to  his  re- 
spective class,  unless  he  shall  have  on  a  night-gown  or  such 
an  outside  garment  as  may  be  necessary  over  a  coat,  except 
only  that  the  Seniors  and  Juniors  are  permitted  to  wear 
black  gowns,  and  it  is  recommended  that  they  appear  in 
them  on  all  public  occasions.  Nor  shall  any  part  of  their 
garments  be  of  silk ;  nor  shall  they  wear  gold  or  silver  lace, 
cord,  or  edging  upon  their  hats,  waistcoats,  or  any  other 
parts  of  their  clothing.  And  whosoever  shall  violate  these 
regulations  shall  be  fined  a  sum  not  exceeding  ten  shillings 
for  each  offence."  —  Laws  of  Harv.  Coll.,  1790,  pp.  36,  37. 
It  is  to  this  dress  that  the  poet  alludes  in  these  lines :  — 

"  In  blue-gray  coat,  with  buttons  on  the  cuffs, 
First  Modern  Pride  your  ear  with  fustian  stuffs ; 
•Welcome,  blest  age,  by  holy  seers  foretold, 
By  ancient  bards  proclaimed  the  age  of  gold,'  "  &c.* 

But  it  was  by  the  would-be  reformers  of  that  day  alone 
that  such  sentiments  were  held,  and  it  was  only  by  the  sever- 
ity of  the  punishment  attending  non-conformity  with  these 
regulations  that  they  were  ever  enforced.  In  1796,  "  the 
sumptuary  law  relative  to  dress  had  fallen  into  neglect," 
and  in  the  next  year  "  it  was  found  so  obnoxious  and  diffi- 
cult to  enforce,"  says  Quincy,  "  that  a  law  was  passed  ab- 
rogating the  whole  system  of  distinction  by  '  frogs  on  the 
cuffs  and  button-holes,'  and  the  law  respecting  dress  was 
limited  to  prescribing  a  blue-gray  or  dark-blue  coat,  with 

*  Education  :  a  Poem  before  O.  B.  K.  Soc,  1799,  by  William  Biglow. 


106  COLLEGE    WORDS 

permission  to  wear  a  black  gown,  and  a  prohibition  of  wear- 
ing gold  or  silver  lace,  cord,  or  edging."  —  Quincy'^s  Hist* 
Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  II.  p.  277. 

A  writer  in  the  New  England  Magazine,  in  an  article  re- 
lating to  the  customs  of  Harvard  College  at  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  gives  the  following  description  of  the  uniform 
ordered  by  the  Corporation  to  be  worn  by  the  students :  — 

"  Each  head  supported  a  three-cornered  cocked  hat. 
Yes,  gentle  reader,  no  man  or  boy  was  considered  in 
full  dress,  in  those  days,  unless  his  pericranium  was  thus 
surmounted,  with  the  forward  peak  directly  over  the  right 
eye.  Had  a  clergyman,  especially,  appeared  with  a  hat  of 
any  other  form,  it  would  have  been  deemed  as  great  a  her- 
esy as  Unitarianism  is  at  the  present  day.  Whether  or  not 
the  three-cornered  hat  was  considered  as  an  emblem  of 
Trinitarianism,  I  am  not  able  to  determine.  Our  hair  was 
worn  in  a  queue,  bound  with  black  ribbon,  and  reached  to 
the  small  of  the  back,  in  the  shape  of  the  tail  of  that  moth- 
erly animal  which  furnishes  ungrateful  bipeds  of  the  human 
race  with  milk,  butter,  and  cheese.  Where  nature  had  not 
bestowed  a  sufficiency  of  this  ornamental  appendage,  the  liv- 
ing and  the  dead  contributed  of  their  superfluity  to  supply 
the  deficiency.  Our  ear-locks  —  horresco  ref evens  —  my 
ears  tingle  and  my  countenance  is  distorted  at  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  tortures  inflicted  on  them  by  the  heated  curling- 
tongs  and  crimping-irons. 

"  The  bosoms  of  our  shirts  were  ruffled  with  lawn  or 
cambric,  and 

*  Our  fingers'  ends  were  seen  to  peep 
From  ruffles,  full  five  inches  deep.' 

Our  coats  were  double-breasted,  and  of  a  black  or  priest- 
gray  color.  The  directions  were  not  so  particular  respect- 
ing our  waistcoats,  breeches,  —  I  beg  pardon,  —  small 
clothes,  and  stockings.  Our  shoes  ran  to  a  point  at  the 
distance  of  two  or  three  inches  from  the  extremity  of  the 
foot,  and  turned  upward,  like  the  curve  of  a  skate.  Our 
dress  was  ornamented  with  shining  stock,  knee,  and  shoe 
buckles,  the  last  embracing  at  least  one  half  of  the  foot  of 


AND   CUSTOMS.  107 

ordinary  dimensions.  If  any  wore  boots,  they  were  made 
to  set  as  closely  to  the  leg  as  its  skin  ;  for  a  handsome  calf 
and  ankle  were  esteemed  as  great  beauties  as  any  portion 
of  the  frame,  or  point  in  the  physiognomy."  —  Vol.  III.  pp. 
238,  239. 

In  1822  was  passed  the  "  Law  of  Harvard  University, 
regulating  the  dress  of  the  students."  The  established  uni- 
form was  as  follows.  "  The  coat  of  black-mixed,  single- 
breasted,  with  a  rolling  cape,  square  at  the  end,  and  with 
pocket  flaps  ;  waist  reaching  to  the  natural  waist,  with  lapels 
of  the  same  length  ;  skirts  reaching  to  the  bend  of  the  knee  ; 
three  crow's-feet,  made  of  black-silk  cord,  on  the  lower  part 
of  the  sleeve  of  a  Senior,  two  on  that  of  a  Junior,  and  one 
on  that  of  a  Sophomore.  The  waistcoat  of  black-mixed  or 
of  black  ;  or  when  of  cotton  or  linen  fabric,  of  white,  single- 
breasted,  with  a  standing  collar.  The  pantaloons  of  black- 
mixed  or  of  black  bombazette,  or  when  of  cotton  or  linen 
fabric,  of  white.  The  surtout  or  great  coat  of  black-mixed, 
with  not  more  than  two  capes.  The  buttons  of  the  above 
dress  must  be  flat,  covered  with  the  same  cloth  as  that  of 
the  garments  not  more  than  eight  nor  less  than  six  on  the 
front  of  the  coat,  and  four  behind.  A  surtout  or  outside 
garment  is  not  to  be  substituted  for  the  coat.  But  the  stu- 
dents are  permitted  to  wear  black  gowns,  in  which  they 
may  appear  on  all  .public  occasions.  Night-gowns,  of  cot- 
ton or  linen  or  silk  fabric,  made  in  the  usual  form,  or  in 
that  of  a  frock  coat,  may  be  worn,  except  on  the  Sabbath, 
on  exhibition  and  other  occasions  when  an  undress  would 
be  improper.  The  neckcloths  must  be  plain  black  or  plain 
white." 

No  student,  while  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  was  al- 
lowed, either  in  vacation  or  term  time,  to  wear  any  different 
dress  or  ornament  from  those  above  named,  except  in  case 
of  mourning,  when  he  could  wear  the  customary  badges. 
Although  dismission  was  the  punishment  for  persisting  in 
the  violation  of  these  regulations,  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  very  well  observed,  and  gradually,  like  the  other  laws 
of  an  earlier  date  on  this  subject,  fell   into  disuse.     The 


108  COLLEGE    WORDS 

night-gowns  or  dressing-gowns  continued  to  be  worn  at 
prayers  and  in  public  until  within  a  few  years.  The  black- 
mixed,  otherwise  called  Oxford  Mixed  cloth,  is  explained 
under  the  latter  title. 

At  Union  College,  soon  after  its  foundation,  there  was 
enacted  a  law,  "  forbidding  any  student  to  appear  at  chapel 
without  the  College  badge,  —  a  piece  of  blue  ribbon,  tied  in 
the  button-hole  of  the  coat."  —  Account  of  the  First  Semi- 
centennial Anniversary  of  the  Philomathean  Society^  Union 
College,  1847. 

Such  laws  as  the  above  have  often  been  passed  in  American 
colleges,  but  have  generally  fallen  into  disuse  in  a  very  few 
years,  owing  to  the  predominancy  of  the  feeling  of  demo- 
cratic equality,  the  tendency  of  which  is  to  narrow,  in  as 
great  a  degree  as  possible,  the  intervals  between  different 
ages  and  conditions. 

DUDLEIAN  LECTURE.  An  anniversary  sermon  which  is 
preached  at  Harvard  College  before  the  students ;  supported 
by  the  yearly  interest  of  one  hundred  pounds  sterling,  the 
gift  of  Paul  Dudley,  from  whom  the  lecture  derives  its  name. 
The  following  topics  were  chosen  by  him  as  subjects  for  this 
lecture.  First,  for  "  the  proving,  explaining,  and  proper  use 
and  improvement  of  the  principles  of  Natural  Religion." 
Second,  "  for  the  confirmation,  illustration,  and  improve- 
ment of  the  great  articles  of  the  -Christian  Religion." 
Third,  "  for  the  detecting,  convicting,  and  exposing  the 
idolatry,  errors,  and  superstitions  of  the  Romish  Church." 
Fourth,  "  for  maintaining,  explaining,  and  proving  the  va- 
lidity of  the  ordination  of  ministers  or  pastors  of  the 
churches,  and  so  their  administration  of  the  sacraments  or 
ordinances  of  religion,  as  the  same  hath  been  practised  in 
New  England  from  the  first  beginning  of  it,  and  so  con- 
tinued to  this  day." 

"  The  instrument  proceeds  to  declare,"  says  Quincy, 
"  that  he  does  not  intend  to  invalidate  Episcopal  ordination, 
or  that  practised  in  Scotland,  at  Geneva,  and  among  the 
Dissenters  in  England  and  in  this  country,  all  which  '  I  es- 
teem very  safe,  Scriptural,  and  valid.'     He  directed  these 


AND   CUSTOMS.  10& 

subjects  to  be  discussed  in  rotation,  one  every  year,  and  ap- 
pointed the  President  of  the  College,  the  Professor  of  Divin- 
ity, the  pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Cambridge,  the  Senior 
Tutor  of  the  College,  and  the  pastor  of  the  First  Church 
in  Roxbury,  trustees  of  these  lectures,  which  commenced  in 
1755,  and  have  since  been  annually  continued  without  inter- 
mission."— Quincy'^s  Hist.  Harv,  Univ. ,YoL  II.  pp.  140, 141. 

DULCE  DECUS.  Latin ;  literally,  sweet  honor.  At  Wil- 
liams College  a  name  given  by  a  certain  class  of  students 
to  the  game  of  whist ;  the  reason  for  which  is  evident. 
Whether  Maecenas  would  have  considered  it  an  honor  to 
have  had  the  compliment  of  Horace, 

"  O  et  praesidium  et  dulce  decus  meum," 
transferred  as  a  title  for  a  game  at  cards,  we  leave  foi? 
others  to  decide. 


E. 

EIGHT.     On  the  scale  of  merit,  at  Harvard  College,  eight  is 
the  highest  mark  which  a  student  can  receive  for  a  recitation. 
Students  speak  of  "  getting  an  eight,'*'*  which  is  equivalent 
to  saying,  that  they  have  made  a  perfect  recitation. 
But  since  the  Fates  will  not  grant  all  eights, 

Save  to  some  disgusting  fellow 
Who  '11  fish  and  dig,  I  care  not  a  fig, 

We  '11  be  hard  boys  and  mellow.  —  MS,  Poem, 
Numberless  the  eights  he  showers 

Full  on  my  devoted  head.  — MS.  Ibid. 
At  the  same  college,  when  there  were  three  exhibitions 
in  the  year,  it  was  customary  for  the  first  eight  scholars  in 
the  Junior  Class  to  have  "  parts  "  at  the  first  exhibition,  the 
second  eight  at  the  second  exhibition,  and  the  third  eight 
at  the  third  exhibition.  Eight  Seniors  performed  with  them 
at  each  of  these  three  exhibitions,  but  they  were  taken  pro- 
10 


110  COLLEGE    WORDS 

miscuously  from  the  first  twenty-four  in  their  class.  Al- 
though there  are  now  but  two  exhibitions  in  the  year,  twelve 
performing  from  each  of  the  two  upper  classes,  yet  the 
students  still  retain  the  old  phraseology,  and  you  will  often 
hear  the  question,  "  Is  he  in  the  first  or  second  eight  ?" 

The  bell  for  morning  prayers  had  long  been  sounding ! 

She  says,  '*  What  makes  you  look  so  very  pale  ?  "  — 
"  I  've  had  a  dream."  —  "  Spring  to  't,  or  you  '11  be  late  !  "  — 
**  Do  n't  care  I     'T  was  worth  a  part  among  the  Second  Eight. ^^ 

Childe  Harvard,  p.  121. 

ELECTIONEERLNG.  In  many  colleges  in  the  United 
States,  where  there  are  rival  societies,  it  is  customary,  on 
the  admission  of  a  student  to  college,  for  the  partisans  of 
the  diflferent  societies  to  wait  upon  him,  and  endeavor  to 
secure  him  as  a  member.  An  account  of  this  Society  Elec- 
tioneerings as  it  is  called,  is  given  in  Sketches  of  Yale  College^ 
at  page  162. 

EMERITUS,  pi.  Emeriti.  Latin ;  literally,  obtained  hy  ser- 
vice. One  who  has  been  honorably  discharged  from  pub- 
lic service,  as  in  colleges  and  universities,  a  Professor 
Emeritus. 

ENCENIA,  pi.  Greek  lyKaLvia^  a  feast  of  dedication.  Fes- 
tivals anciently  kept  on  the  days  on  which  cities  were  built 
or  churches  consecrated  ;  and,  in  later  times,  ceremonies 
renewed  at  certain  periods,  as  at  Oxford,  at  the  celebration 
of  founders  and  benefactors.  —  Hook. 

ENGAGEMENT.  At  Yale  College,  the  student,  on  enter- 
ing, signs  an  engagement^  as  it  is  called,  in  the  words  follow- 
ing :  —  "I,  A.  B.,  on  condition  of  being  admitted  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Yale  College,  promise,  on  my  faith  and  honor,  to 
observe  all  the  laws  and  regulations  of  this  College  ;  par- 
ticularly that  I  will  faithfully  avoid  using  profane  language, 
gaming,  and  all  indecent,  disorderly  behavior,  and  disre- 
respectful  conduct  to  the  Faculty,  and  all  combinations  to 
resist  their  authority  ;  as  witness  my  hand.  A.  B."  —  Yale 
Coll  Cat.,  1837,  p.  10. 
Nearly  the  same  formula  is  used  at  Williams  College. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  Ill 

END  WOMAN.  At  Bowdoin  College,  "  end  women,"  says 
a  correspondent,  "  are  the  venerable  females  who  officiate 
as  chambermaids  in  the  different  entries."  They  are  so 
called  from  the  entries  being  placed  at  the  ends  of  the 
buildings. 

ENGINE.  At  Harvard  College,  for  many  years  before  and 
succeeding  the  year  1800,  a  fire-engine  was  owned  by  the 
government,  and  was  under  the  management  of  the  students. 
In  a  MS.  Journal,  under  date  of  Oct.  29,  1792,  is  this  note : 
"This  day  I  turned  out  to  exercise  the  engine.  P.  M." 
The  company  were  accustomed  to  attend  all  the  fires  in  the 
neighboring  towns,  and  were  noted  for  their  skill  and  effi- 
ciency. But  they  often  mingled  enjoyment  with  their  labor, 
nor  were  they  always  as  scrupulous  as  they  might  have 
been  in  the  means  used  to  advance  it.  In  1810,  the  engine 
having  been  newly  repaired,  they  agreed  to  try  its  power  on 
an  old  house,  which  was  to  be  fired  at  a-  given  time.  By 
some  mistake,  the  alarm  was  given  before  the  house  was 
fairly  burning.  Many  of  the  town's  people  endeavored  to 
save  it,  but  the  company,  dragging  the  engine  into  a  pond 
near  by,  threw  the  dirty  water  on  them  in  such  quantities 
that  they  were  glad  to  desist  from  their  laudable  endeavors. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  Engine  Society  was  organ- 
ized, before  which  so  many  pleasant  poems  and  orations 
were  annually  delivered.  Of  these,  that  most  noted  is  the 
"  Rebelliad,"  which  was  spoken  in  the  year  1819,  and  was 
first  published  in  the  year  1842.  Of  it  the  editor  has  well 
remarked  :  "  It  still  remains  the  text-book  of  the  jocose, 
and  is  still  regarded  by  all,  even  the  melancholy,  as  a  most 
happy  production  of  humorous  taste."  Its  author  was 
Dr.  Augustus  Pierce,  who  died  at  Tyngsboro',  May  20, 
1849. 

The  favorite  beverage  at  fires  was  rum  and  molasses, 
commonly  called  black-strap,  which -is  referred  to  in  the  fol- 
lowing lines,  commemorative  of  the  engine  company  in  its 
palmier  days. 

**  But,  O  !  let  black-strap'' s  sable  ^od  deplore 
Those  engine-heroes  so  renowned  of  yore  ! 


112  COLLEGE   WORDS 

Gone  is  that  spirit,  which,  in  ancient  time, 
Inspired  more  deeds  than  ever  shone  in  rhyme  ! 
Ye,  who  remember  the  superb  array, 
The  deafening  cry,  the  engine's  '  maddening  play,' 
The  broken  windows,  and  the  floating  floor, 
Wherewith  those  masters  of  hydraulic  lore 
Were  wont  to  make  us  tremble  as  we  gazed. 
Can  tell  how  many  a  false  alarm  was  raised. 
How  many  a  room  by  their  o'erflowings  drenched. 
And  how  few  fires  by  their  assistance  quenched  1 ' ' 

Harvard  Register,  p.  235. 
The  habit  of  attending  fires  in  Boston,  as  it  bad  a  tenden- 
cy to  draw  the  attention  of  the  students  from  their  college 
duties,  was  in  part  the  cause  of  the  dissolution  of  the  com- 
pany. Their  presence  was  always  welcomed  in  the  neigh- 
boring city,  and  although  they  often  left  their  engine  behind 
them  on  returning  to  Cambridge,  it  was  usually  sent  out  to 
them  soon  after.  The  company  would  often  parade  through 
the  streets  of  Cambridge  in  masquerade  dresses,  headed  by 
a  chaplain,  presenting  a  most  ludicrous  appearance.  In 
passing  through  the  College  yard,  it  was  the  custom  to 
throw  water  into  any  window  that  chanced  to  be  open. 
Their  fellow-students,  knowing  when  they  were  to  appear, 
usually  kept  their  windows  closed,  but  the  officers  were  not 
always  so  fortunate.  About  the  year  1822,  having  dis- 
charged water  into  the  room  of  the  College  regent,  thereby 
damaging  a  very  valuable  library  of  books,  the  government 
disbanded  the  company,  and  shortly  after  sold  the  engine  to 
the  then  town  of  Cambridge,  on  condition  that  it  should 
never  be  taken  out  of  the  place.  A  few  years  ago  it  was 
again  sold  to  some  young  men  of  West  Cambridge,  in  whose 
hands  it  still  remains.  One  of  the  brakes  of  the  engine,  a 
relic  of  its  former  glory,  was  lately  discovered  in  the  cellar 
of  one  of  the  College  buildings,  and  that  perchance  has  by 
this  time  been  used  to  kindle  the  element  which  it  once  as- 
sisted to  extinguish. 
EUNDEM  GRADUM.  Latin,  the  same  degree.  In  Amer- 
ican colleges,  a  Bachelor  or  Master  of  one  institution  was 
formerly  allowed  to  take  the  same  degree  at  another,  on 


AND   CUSTOMS.  113 

payment  of  a  certain  fee.  By  this  he  was  admitted  to  all 
the  privileges  of  a  graduate  of  his  adopted  Alma  Mater. 
Ad  eundem  gradum^  to  the  same  degree,  were  the  impor- 
tant words  in  the  formula  of  admission.  A  similar  custom 
prevails  at  present  in  the  English  universities. 

Persons  who  have  received  a  degree  in  any  other  university  or 
college  may,  upon  proper  application,  be  admitted  ad  eundem,  upon 
paying  five  dollars  to  the  Steward  for  the  President.  —  Laws  of  the 
Univ.  in  Cktm,,  Mass.,  1828. 

The  House  of  Convocation  consists  both  of  regents  and  non- 
regents,  that  is,  in  brief,  all  masters  of  arts  not  honorary,  or  ad 
eundems  from  Cambridge  or  Dublin,  and  of  course  graduates  of  a 
higher  order.  —  Oxford  Guide,  1847,  p.  xi. 

EXAMINATION.  An  inquiry  into  the  acquisitions  of  the 
students,  in  colleges  and  seminaries  of  learnings  by  ques- 
tioning them  in  literature  and  the  sciences,  and  by  hearing 
their  recitals.  —  Webster, 

In  all  colleges  candidates  for  entrance  are  required  to  be 
able  to  pass  an  examination  in  certain  branches  of  study 
before  they  can  be  admitted.  The  students  are  generally 
examined,  in  most  colleges,  at  the  close  of  each  term. 

In  the  revised  laws  of  Harvard  College,  printed  in  the 
year  1790,  was  one  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  exam- 
inations, the  first  part  of  which  is  as  follows:  — "  To  animate 
the  students  in  the  pursuit  of  literary  merit  and  fame,  and  to 
excite  in  their  breasts  a  noble  spirit  of  emulation,  there  shall 
be  annually  a  public  examination,  in  the  presence  of  a  joint 
committee  of  the  Corporation  and  Overseers,  and  such  other 
gentlemen  as  may  be  inclined  to  attend  it."  It  then  proceeds 
to  enumerate  the  times  and  text-books  for  each  class,  and 
closes  by  stating,  that, "  should  any  student  neglect  or  refuse 
to  attend  such  examination,  he  shall  be  liable  to  be  fined  a 
sum  not  exceeding  twenty  shillings,  or  to  be  admonished  or 
suspended."  Great  discontent  was  immediately  evinced  by 
the  students  at  this  regulation,  and  as  it  was  not  with  this 
understanding  that  they  entered  college,  they  considered  it 
as  an  ex  post  facto  law,  and  therefore  not  binding  upon  them. 
With  these  views,  in  the  year  1791,  the  Senior  and  Junior 
10* 


114  COLLEGE   WORDS 

Classes  petitioned  for  exemption  from  the  examination,  but 
their  application  was  rejected  by  the  Overseers.  When  this 
was  declared,  some  of  the  students  determined  to  stop  the 
exercises  for  that  year,  if  possible.  For  this  purpose  they 
obtained  six  hundred  grains  of  tartar  emetic,  and  early  on 
the  morning  of  April  12th,  the  day  on  which  the  examina- 
tion was  to  begin,  emptied  it  into  the  great  cooking  boilers 
in  the  kitchen.  At  breakfast,  150  or  more  students  and 
officers  being  present,  the  coffee  was  brought  on,  made 
with  the  water  from  the  boilers-  Its  effects  were  soon  vis- 
ible. One  after  another  left  the  hall,  some  in  a  slow,  others 
in  a  hurried  manner,  but  all  plainly  showing  that  their  situ- 
ation was  by  no  means  a  pleasant  one.  Out  of  the  whole 
number  there  assembled,  only  four  or  five  escaped  without 
being  made  unwell.  Those  who  put  the  drug  in  the  coffee 
had  drank  the  most,  in  order  to  escape  detection,  and  were 
consequently  the  most  severely  affected.  Unluckily,  one  of 
them  was  seen  putting  something  into  the  boilers,  and  the 
names  of  the  others  were  soon  after  discovered.  Their 
punishment  is  stated  in  the  following  memoranda  from  a 
manuscript  journal. 

"  Exhibition,  1791.  April  20th.  This  morning  Trapier 
was  rusticated  and  Sullivan  suspended  to  Groton  for  nine 
months,  for  mingling  tartar  emetic  with  our  commons  on 
y*  morning  of  April  12th." 

"  May  21st.  Ely  was  suspended  to  Amherst  for  five 
months,  for  assisting  Sullivan  and  Trapier  in  mingling  tartar 
emetic  with  our  commons." 

Another  student  who  threw  a  stone  into  the  examination- 
room,  which  struck  the  chair  in  which  Governor  Hancock 
sat,  w^as  more  severely  punished.  The  circumstance  is 
mentioned  in  the  manuscript  referred  to  above  as  follows:  — 

"  April    14th,  1791.     Henry  W.  Jones   of  H was 

expelled  from  College  upon  evidence  of  a  little  boy  that  he 
sent  a  stone  into  y*  Philosopher's  room  while  a  committee 
of  y^  Corporation  and  Overseers,  and  all  y^  Immediate  Gov- 
ernment were  engaged  in  examination  of  y°  Freshman 
Class." 


AND   CUSTOMS.  115 

Although  the  examination  was  delayed  for  a  day  or  two 
on  account  of  these  occurrences,  it  was  again  renewed  and 
carried  on  during  that  year,  although  many  attempts  were 
made  to  stop  it.  For  several  years  after,  whenever  these 
periods  occurred,  disturbances  came  with  them,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  year  1797  that  the  differences  between  the 
officers  and  the  students  were  satisfactorily  adjusted,  and 
examinations  established  on  a  sure  basis. 

EXAMINE.  To  inquire  into  the  improvements  or  qualifica- 
tions of  students,  by  interrogatories,  proposing  problems,  or 
by  hearing  their  recitals ;  as,  to  examine  the  classes  in  col- 
lege ;  to  examine  the  candidates  for  a  degree,  or  for  a  li- 
cense to  preach  or  to  practise  in  a  profession.  —  Webster, 

EXAMINER.  One  who  examines.  In  colleges  and  semi- 
naries of  learning,  the  person  who  interrogates  the  students, 
proposes  questions  for  them  to  answer,  and  problems  to 
solve. 

Coming  forward  with  assumed  carelessness,  he  threw  towards  us 
the  formal  reply  of  his  examiners. —  Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  9. 

EXEAT.  Latin ;  literally,  let  him  depart.  Leave  of  absence 
given  to  a  student  in  the  English  universities.  —  Webster, 

The  students  who  wish  to  go  home  apply  for  an  ^^Exeat,^^  which 
is  a  paper  signed  by  the  Tutor,  Master,  and  Dean.  —  Alma  Mater, 
Vol.  I.  p.  162. 

EXERCISE.  A  task  or  lesson;  that  which  is  appointed  for 
one  to  perform.  In  colleges,  all  the  literary  duties  are 
called  exercises. 

It  may  be  inquired,  whether  a  great  part  of  the  exercises  be 
not  at  best  but  serious  follies.  —  Cotton  Mather'' s  Suggestions,  in 
Quincy^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  I.  p.  558. 

In  the  English  universities,  certain  exercises,  as  acts, 
opponencies,  &;c.,  are  required  to  be  performed  for  particu- 
lar degrees. 

EXHIBIT.     To  take  part  in  an  exhibition ;  to  speak  in  public 
at  an  exhibition  or  commencement. 
No  student  who  shall  receive  any  appointment  to  exhibit  before 


116  COLLEGE    WORDS 

the  class,  the  College,  or  the  public,  shall  give  any  treat  or  enter- 
tainment to  his  class,  or  any  part  thereof,  for  or  on  account  of  those 
appointments.  —  Laws  Yale  Coll.,  1837,  p.  29. 

If  any  student  shall  fail  to  perform  the  exercise  assigned  him,  or 
shall  exhibit  any  thing  not  allowed  by  the  Faculty,  he  may  be  sent 
home.  — i^W.,  1837,  p.  16. 

2.  To  provide  for  poor  students  by  an  exhibition.  (See 
Exhibition,  second  meaning.)  An  instance  of  this  use  is 
given  in  the  Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam,  where  one  Antony 
Wood  says  of  Bishop  Longland,  "  He  was  a  special  friend 
to  the  University,  in  maintaining  its  privileges  and  in  exhib- 
iting to  the  wants  of  certain  scholars."  In  Mr.  Peirce's 
History  of  Harvard  University  occurs  this  passage,  in  an 
account  of  the  will  of  the  Hon.  William  Stoughton :  "  He 
bequeathed  a  pasture  in  Dorchester,  containing  twenty-three 
acres  and  four  acres  of  marsh,  '  the  income  of  both  to  be 
exhibited.^  in  the  first  place,  to  a  scholar  of  the  town  of  Dor- 
chester, and  if  there  be  none  such,  to  one  of  the  town  of 
Milton,  and  in  want  of  such,  then  to  any  other  well  deserv- 
ing that  shall  be  most  needy.'  "  —  p.  77. 

EXHIBITION.  In  colleges,  a  public  literary  and  oratorical 
display.  The  exercises  at  exhibitions  are  original  composi- 
tions, prose  translations  from  the  English  into  Greek  and 
Latin,  and  from  other  languages  into  the  English,  metrical 
versions,  dialogues,  &c. 

At  Harvard  College,  in  the  year  1760,  it  was  voted,  "  that 
twice  in  a  year,  in  the  spring  and  fall,  each  class  should 
recite  to  their  Tutors,  in  the  presence  of  the  President, 
Professors,  and  Tutors,  in  the  several  books  in  which  they 
are  reciting  to  their  respective  Tutors,  and  that  publicly  in 
the  College  Hall  or  Chapel."  The  next  year,  the  Overseers 
being  informed  "  that  the  students  are  not  required  to  trans- 
late English  into  Latin  nor  Latin  into  English,"  their  com- 
mittee "  thought  it  would  be  convenient  that  specimens  of 
such  translations  and  other  performances  in  classical  and 
polite  literature  should  be  from  time  to  time  laid  before " 
their  board.  A  vote  passed  the  Board  of  Overseers  recom- 
mending to  the  Corporation  a  conformity  to  these  sugges- 


AND   CUSTOMS.  117 

tions,  but  it  was  not  until  the  year  1766  that  a  law  was 
formally  enacted  in  both  boards,  ^'  that  twice  in  the  year, 
viz.  at  the  semiannual  visitation  of  the  committee  of  the 
Overseers,  some  of  the  scholars,  at  the  direction  of  the  Pres- 
ident and  Tutors,  shall  publicly  exhibit  specimens  of  their 
proficiency,  by  pronouncing  orations  and  delivering  dia- 
logues, either  in  English  or  in  one  of  the  learned  languages, 
or  hearing  a  forensic  disputation,  or  such  other  exercises  as 
the  President  and  Tutors  shall  direct." — Quincy'^s  Hist. 
Harv,  Univ.,  Vol.  II.  pp.  128-132. 

A  few  years  after  this,  two  more  exhibitions  were  added, 
and  were  so  arranged  as  to  fall  one  in  each  quarter  of  the 
College  year.  The  last  year  in  which  there  were  four 
exhibitions  was  1789.  After  this  time  there  were  three 
exhibitions  during  the  year  until  1849,  when  one  was  omit- 
ted, since  which  time  the  original  plan  has  been  adopted. 

In  the  journal  of  a  member  of  the  class  which  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  the  year  1793,  under  the  date  of 
December  23d,  1789,  Exhibition,  is  the  following  memo- 
randum ;  "  Music  was  intermingled  with  elocution,  which 
(we  read)  has  charms  to  soothe  even  a  savage  breast." 
Again,  on  a  similar  occasion,  April  13th,  1790,  an  account 
of  the  exercises  of  the  day  closes  with  this  note  :  "  Tender 
music  being  interspersed  to  enliven  the  audience."  Vocal 
music  was  sometimes  introduced.  In  the  same  Journal, 
date  October  1st,  1790,  Exhibition,  the  writer  says :  "  The 
performances  were  enlivened  with  an  excellent  piece  of 
music,  sung  by  Harvard  Singing  Club,  accompanied  with 
a  band  of  music."  From  this  time  to  the  present  day, 
music,  either  vocal  or  instrumental,  has  formed  a  very  en- 
tertaining part  of  the  Exhibition  performances. 

The  exercises  for  exhibitions  are  assigned  by  the  Faculty 
to  meritorious  students,  usually  of  the  two  higher  classes. 
The  exhibitions  are  held  under  the  direction  of  the  President, 
and  a  refusal  to  perform  the  part  assigned  is  regarded  as  a 
high  offence.  —  Laws  of  Univ.  at  Cam,,  Mass.,  1848,  p.  19. 
Laws  Yale  Coll,  1837,  p.  16. 

2.  Allowance  of  meat  and  drink ;  pension ;  benefaction 


118  COLLEGE   WORDS 

settled  for  the  maintenance  of  scholars  in  the  English  Uni- 
versities, not  depending  on  the  foundation.  —  Encyc. 
What  maintenance  he  from  his  friends  receives, 
Like  exhibition  thou  shalt  have  from  me. 

Two  Gent.  Verona,  Act  I.  Sc.  3. 
This  word  was  formerly  used  in  American  colleges. 

I  order  and  appoint ...  .ten  pounds  a  year  for  one  exiiibition,  to  assist 
one  pious  young  man. —  Quina/^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ,,  Vol.  I.  p.  530. 

As  to  the  extending  the  time  of  his  exhibitions ,  we  agree  to  it.  — 
i^ic?.,  Vol.I.  p.532. 

In  the  yearly  "  Statement  of  the  Treasurer  "  of  Harvard 
College,  the  word  is  still  retained. 

EXHIBITIONER.      One  who  has  a  pension  or  allowance, 

granted  for  the  encouragement  of  learning  ;  one  who  enjoys 

an  exhibition.     Used  principally  in  the  English  universities. 

2.  One  who  performs  a  part  at  an  exhibition  in  American 

colleges  is  sometimes  called  an  exhibitioner. 

EXPEL.  In  college  government,  to  command  to  leave  ;  to 
dissolve  the  connection  of  a  student ;  to  interdict  him  from 
further  connection.  —  Webster. 

EXPULSION.  In  college  government,  expulsion  is  the  high- 
est censure,  and  is  a  final  separation  from  the  college  or 
university.  —  ColL  Laws. 

In  the  Diary  of  Mr.  Leverett,  who  was  President  of  Har- 
vard College  from  1707  to  1724,  is  an  account  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  punishment  of  expulsion  was  then  inflicted.  It 
is  as  follows :  —  "In  the  College  Hall  the  President,  after 
morning  prayers,  the  Fellows,  Masters  of  Art,  and  the  sev- 
eral classes  of  undergraduates  being  present,  after  a  full 
opening  of  the  crimes  of  the  delinquents,  a  pathetic  ad- 
monition of  them,  and  solemn  obtestation  and  caution  to  the 
scholars,  pronounced  the  sentence  of  expulsion,  ordered  their 
names  to  be  rent  off  the  tables,  and  them  to  depart  the 
Hall."  —  Quincy's  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  I.  p.  442. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  119 


F. 

FACULTY.  In  colleges,  the  masters  and  professors  of  the 
several  sciences.  —  Johnson, 

In  America,  the  faculty  of  a  college  or  university  consists 
of  the  president,  professors,  and  tutors.  —  Webster. 

The  duties  of  the  faculty  are  very  extended.  They  have 
the  general  control  and  direction  of  the  studies  pursued  in 
the  college.  They  have  cognizance  of  all  offences  com- 
mitted by  undergraduates,  and  it  is  their  special  duty  to  en- 
force the  observance  of  all  the  laws  and  regulations  for  main- 
taining discipline,  and  promoting  good  order,  virtue,  piety, 
and  good  learning  in  the  institution  with  which  they  are  con- 
nected. The  faculty  hold  meetings  to  communicate  and 
compare  their  opinions  and  information,  respecting  the  con- 
duct and  character  of  the  students  and  the  state  of  the 
college  ;  to  decide  upon  the  petitions  or  requests  which  may 
be  offered  them  by  the  members  of  college,  and  to  consider 
and  suggest  such  measures  as  may  tend  to  the  advancement 
of  learning,  and  the  improvement  of  the  college.  This  as- 
sembly is  called  a  Faculty -meeting,  a  word  very  often  in  the 
mouths  of  students.  —  Coll.  Laws.  * 

2.  One  of  the  members  or  departments  of  a  university. 

"  In  the  origin  of  the  university  of  Paris,"  says  Brande, 
"  the  seven  liberal  arts  (grammar,  logic,  rhetoric,  arithmetic, 
geometry,  astronomy,  and  music)  seem  to  have  been  the 
subjects  of  academic  instruction.  These  constituted  what 
was  afterwards  designated  the  Faculty  of  Arts.  Three  other 
faculties  —  those  of  divinity,  law,  and  medicine  —  were  sub- 
sequently added.  In  all  these  four,  lectures  were  given,  and 
degrees  conferred  by  the  University.  The  four  Faculties 
were  transplanted  to  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  where  they  are 
still  retained  ;  although,  in  point  of  fact,  the  faculty  of  arts  is 
the  only  one  in  which  substantial  instruction  is  communicated 
in  the  academical  course."  —  Brande'^ s  Diet.,  Art.  Faculty. 

In  some  American  colleges,  these  four  departments  are 
established,  and  sometimes  a  fifth,  the  Scientific,  is  added. 


120  COLLEGE    WORDS 

FAG.  Scotch,  faik,  to  fail,  to  languish.  Ancient  Swedish, 
wik-a,  cedere.  To  drudge  ;  to  labor  to  weariness  ;  to  be- 
come weary. 

2.  To  study  hard  ;  to  persevere  in  study. 

Place  me  'midst  every  toil  and  care, 
A  hapless  undergraduate  still, 
To  fag  at  mathematics  dire,  &c. 

Gradus  ad  Cantab,,  p.  8. 

Dee,  the  famous  mathematician,  appears  to  have  fagged  as  in- 
tensely as  any  man  at  Cambridge.  For  three  years,  he  declares, 
he  only  slept  four  hours  a  night,  and  allowed  two  hours  for  refresh- 
ment. The  remaining  eighteen  hours  were  spent  in  study.  —  Ihid.y^ 
p.  48. 

How  did  ye  toil,  and/a^^,  and  fume,  and  fret. 
And  —  what  the  bashful  muse  would  blush  to  say. 
But,  now,  your  painful  tremors  all  are  o'er, 
Cloath'd  in  the  glories  of  a  full-sleev'd  gown, 
Ye  strut  majestically  up  and  down. 
And  now  yefaggj  and  now  ye  fear,  no  more  ! 

Gent,  Mag,  1795,  p.  20. 

FAG.  A  laborious  drudge  ;  a  drudge  for  another.  In  colleges 
and  schools,  this  term  is  applied  to  a  boy  who  does  menial 
services  for  another  boy  of  a  higher  form  or  class. 

But  who  are  those  three  by-standers,  that  have  such  an'air  of  sub- 
mission and  awe  in  their  countenances  1  They  are  fags,  —  Fresh- 
men, poor  fellows,  called  out  of  their  beds,  and  shivering  with  fear 
in  the  apprehension  of  missing  morning  prayers,  to  wait  upon  their 
lords  the  Sophomores  in  their  midnight  revellings.  —  Harvardiana, 
Vol.  II.  p.  106. 

His/flfo-  he  had  wellnigh  killed  by  a  blow. 

Wallenstein  in  Bohn's  Stand,  Lib.,  p.  155. 

Under  the  title  Freshman  Servitude  will  be  found  an 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  members  of  that  class  were 
formerly  treated  in  the  older  American  colleges. 

2.  A  diligent  study,  i.  e.  a  dig, 

FAG.     Time  spent  in,  or  period  of,  studying. 

The  afternoon's  fag  is  a  pretty  considerable  one,  lasting  from 
three  till  dark.  —  Alma  Mater,  Vol.  I.  p.  248. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  121 

After  another  hard/<2^  of  a  week  or  two,  a  land  excursion  would 
be  proposed.  —  Ibid,,  Vol.  IL  p.  56. 

FAGGING.  Laborious  drudgery  ;  the  acting  as  a  drudge  for 
another  at  a  college  or  school. 

2.  Studying  hard,  equivalent  to  diggings  grubhing^  SfC, 

Thrice  happy  ye,  through  toil  and  dangers  past. 
Who  rest  upon  that  peaceful  shore,    . 
Where  all  your  fagging  is  no  more. 
And  gain  the  long-expected  port  at  last. 

Gent.  Mag.,  1795,  p.  19. 
To  fagging  I  set  to,  therefore,  with  as  keen  a  relish  as  ever 
alderman  sat  down  to  turtle.  — Alma  Mater,  Vol.  I.  p.  123. 

See  what  I  pay  for  liberty  to  leave  school  early,  and  to  figure  in 
every  ball-room  in  the  country,  and  see  the  world,  instead  of  fagging 
at  college.  —  Collegian^ s  Guide,  p.  307. 

FAIR  LICK.  In  the  game  of  football,  when  the  ball  is  fairly 
caught  or  kicked  beyond  the  bounds,  the  cry  usually  heard,, 
is  Fair  lick  !  Fair  lick  ! 

*'  Fair  lick!  "  he  cried,  and  raised  his  dreadful  foot. 
Armed  at  all  points  with  the  ancestral  boot. 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  IV.  p.  22L 

See  Football. 

FANTASTICS.  At  Princeton  College,  an  exhibition  on  Com* 
mencement  evening,  of  a  number  of  students  on  horseback,, 
fantastically  dressed  in  masks,  &c. 

FAT.  At  Princeton  College,  a  letter  with  money  or  a  draft  is. 
thus  denominated. 

FATHER  OK  PRtELECTOR.  In  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, Eng.,  one  of  the  fellows  of  a  college,  who  attends  all 
the  examinations  for  the  Bachelor's  degree,  to  see  that  justice 
is  done  to  the  candidates  from  his  own  college,  who  are  at 
that  time  called  his  sons,  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab, 

The  Fathers  of  the  respective  colleges,  zealous  for  the  credit  of" 
the  societies  of  which  they  are  the  guardians,  are  incessantly  em- 
ployed in  examining  those  students  who  appear  most  likely  to 
contest  the  palm  of  glory  with  their  sons. —  Gent.  Mag,,  1773,  p.. 
435. 

11 


122  COLLEGE    WORDS 

FEBRUARY  TWENTY-SECOND.  At  Shelby,  Centre,  and 
Bacon  Colleges,  in  Kentucky,  it  is  customary  to  select  the 
best  orators  and  speakers  from  the  different  literary  societies 
to  deliver  addresses  on  the  twenty-second  of  February,  in 
commemoration  of  the  birthday  of  Washington.  At  Bethany 
College,  in  Virginia,  this  day  is  observed  in  a  similar  manner. 

'  FEEZE.  The  meaning  of  this  word  seems,  by  the  annexed 
extract  from  a  letter  from  the  University  of  Vermont,  to  be, 
to  deceive^  to  cheat,  "  A  man  writes  cards  during  exami- 
nations to  ^  feeze  the  profs  ' ;  said  cards  are  '  gummino^ 
cards.'  " 

FELLOW.  A  member  of  a  corporation  ;  a  trustee.  In  the 
English  universities,  a  residence  at  the  college,  engagement 
in  instruction,  and  receiving  therefor  stipend,  are  essential 
requisites  to  the  character  of  a  fellow.  In  American  col- 
leges, it  is  not  necessary  that  di  fellow  should  be  a  resident,  a 
stipendiary,  or  an  instructor.  In  most  cases  the  greater  num- 
ber of  the  Fellows  of  the  Corporation  are  non-residents,  and 
have  no  part  in  the  instruction  at  the  college. 

At  Harvard  College,  the  tutors  were  formerly  called  resi- 
dent fellows.  —  Quincy''s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.^  Vol.  I.  p.  278. 

The  resident  fellows  were  tutors  to  the  classes  and  instructed 
them  in  Hebrew,  *'  and  led  them  through  all  the  liberal  arts  before 
the  four  years  were  expired."  — Harv.  Beg.,  p.  249. 

For  some  remarks  on  the  word  Fellow,  see  under  the  title 
College. 

FELLOW-COMMONER.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
EiUglsind^  fellow-commoners  are  generally  the  younger  sons 
of  the  nobility,  or  young  men  of  fortune,  and  have  the  privi- 
lege of  dining  at  the  Fellows'  table,  from  whence  the  appel- 
lation originated. 

In  the  old  laws  of  Harvard  College  we  find  the  following  : 
"  None  shall  be  admitted  a  Fellow-commoner  unless  he  first 
pay  thirteen  pounds  six  and  eight  pence  to  the  college. 
And  every  Fellow -commoner  shall  pay  double  tuition  money. 
They  shall  have  the  privilege  of  dining  and  supping  with 
the  Fellows  at  their  table  in  the  Hall ;  they  shall  be  excused 


AND   CUSTOMS.  123 

from  going  on  errands,  and  shall  have  the  title  of  Masters, 
and  have  the  privilege  of  wearing  their  hats  as  the  Masters 
do  ;  but  shall  attend  all  duties  and  exercises  with  the  rest  of 
their  class,  and  be  alike  subject  to  the  laws  and  government 
of  the  College,"  &c.  The  Hon.  Paine  Wingate,  a  graduate 
of  the  class  of  1759,  says  in  reference  to  this  subject,  "  I 
never  heard  any  thing  about  Fellow-commoners  in  college 
excepting  in  this  paragraph.  I  am  satisfied  there  has  been 
no  such  description  of  scholars  at  Cambridge  since  1  have 
known  any  thing  about  the  place."  —  Peirce^s  Hist.  Harv, 
Coll,  p.  314. 

It  is  probable  that  this  order,  although  introduced  from  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  England,  into  Harvard  College, 
never  received  any  members,  on  account  of  the  evil  in- 
fluence which  such  distinctions  usually  exert. 

A  Fellow- commoner  at  Cambridge  is  equivalent  to  an  Ox- 
ford Gentleman- commoner,  and  is  in  all  respects  similar  to 
what  in  private  schools  and  seminaries  is  called  a  parlor 
hoarder,  A  fuller  account  of  this,  the  first  rank  at  the  Uni- 
versity, will  be  found  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1795,  p. 
20,  and  in  the  Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam,  p.  50. 

"  Fellow-Commoners  have  been  nick-named  '  Empty  Bot- 
tles I '  They  have  been  called,  likewise,  '  Useless  Mem- 
bers ! '  '  The  licensed  Sons  of  Ignorance.' "  —  Gradus  ad 
Cantab. 

The  Fellow-Commoners,  alias  empti/  bottles,  (not  so  called  be- 
cause they  've  let  out  any  thing  during  the  examination,)  are  then 
presented.  — Alma  Mater,  Vol.  11.  p.  101. 

A  Hat  Fellow-commoner  is  the  son  of  a  nobleman,  a 
baronet,  or  eldest  son  of  a  baronet,  who  wears  the  gown  of 
a  Fellow-commoner  with  a  hat,  and  is  admitted  to  the  de- 
gree of  A.  M.  after  two  years'  residence. 

FELLOW  OF  THE  HOUSE.     See  under  House. 

FELLOWSHIP.     An  establishment  in  colleges,  for  the  main- 
tenance of  a  fellow.  —  Webster. 

In  Harvard  College,  tutors  were  formerly  called  Fellows 
of  the  house  or  college,  and  their  office,  fellowships.  In 
this  sense  that  word  is  used  in  the  following  passage. 


124 


COLLEGE   WORDS 


Joseph  Stevens  was  chosen  "  Fellow  of  the  College,  or  House," 
and  as  such  was  approved  by  that  board  [the  Corporation],  in  the 
language  of  the  records,  **  to  supply  a  vacancy  in  one  of  the  Fel- 
lowships of  the  House."  —  Quina/'s  Hist,  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  I. 
p.  279. 

FELLOWS'  ORCHARD.     See  Tutors'  Pasture. 

FERG.  To  lose  the  heat  of  excitement  or  passion ;  to  become 
less  angry,  ardent ;  to  cool.  A  correspondent  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Vermont,  where  this  word  is  used,  says  :  "  If  a 
man  gets  angry,  we  '  let  him/er^,'  and  he  feels  better." 

FESS.  Probably  abbreviated  for  Confess.  In  some  of  the 
Southern  Colleges,  to  fail  in  reciting ;  to  silently  request  the 
teacher  not  to  put  farther  queries. 

FINES.  In  many  of  the  colleges  in  the  United  States  it  was 
formerly  customary  to  impose  fines  upon  the  students  as  a 
punishment  for  non-compliance  with  the  laws.  The  practice 
is  now  very  generally  abolished. 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  custom 
of  punishing  by  pecuniary  mulcts  began,  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege, to  be  considered  objectionable.  "  Although,"  says 
Quincy,  "  little  regarded  by  the  students,  they  were  very 
annoying  to  their  parents."  A  list  of  the  fines  which  were 
imposed  on  students  at  that  period  presents  a  curious  aggre- 
gate of  offences  and  punishments. 

Absence  from  prayers, 

Tardiness  at  prayers, 

Absence  from  Professor's  public  lecture, 
Tardiness  at  do. 

Profanation  of  Lord's  day,  not  exceeding 

Absence  from  public  worship, 

Tardiness  at  do.  ..... 

Ill  behavior  at  do.  not  exceeding 

Going  to  meeting  before  bell-ringing,     .... 

Neglecting  to  repeat  the  sermon,        .... 

Irreverent  behavior  at  prayers,  or  public  divinity  lectures, 
Absence  from  chambers,  &c.,  not  exceeding 

Not  declaiming,  not  exceeding 

Not  giving  up  a  declamation,  not  exceeding 
Absence  from  recitation,  not  exceeding 


£ 

s. 

d. 

0 

0 

2 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

4 

0 

0 

2 

0 

3 

0 

0 

0 

9 

0 

0 

3 

0 

1 

6 

0 

0 

6 

0 

0 

9 

0 

1 

6 

0 

0 

6 

0 

1 

6 

0 

1 

6 

0 

1 

6 

AND    CUSTOMS. 


135 


s.  d. 

3  0 

1  6 
3  0 

2  6 

0     1  3 


£ 
Neglecting  analyzing,  not  exceeding  ...         0 

Bachelors  neglecting  disputations,  not  exceeding    .         .     0 
Respondents  neglecting       do.  from  Is.  Qd.  to  0 

Undergraduates  out  of  town  without  leave,  not  exceeding   0 
Undergraduates  tarrying  out  of  town  without  leave,  not 

exceeding  per  diem, 

Undergraduates  tarrying  out  of  town  one  week  without 

leave,  not  exceeding 0  10     0 

Undergraduates  tarrying  out  of  town  one  month  without 

leave,  not  exceeding 

Lodging  strangers  without  leave,  not  exceeding 
Entertaining  persons  of  ill  character,  not  exceeding 
Going  out  of  College  without  proper  garb,  not  exceeding 
Frequenting  taverns,  not  exceeding 
Profane  cursing,  not  exceeding 
Graduates  playing  cards,  not  exceeding 
Undergraduates  playing  cards,  not  exceeding 
Undergraduates  playing  any  game  for  money,  not  exceeding  0 
Selling  and  exchanging  without  leave,  not  exceeding 
Lying,  not  exceeding    ...... 

Opening  door  by  pick-locks,  not  exceeding 
Drunkenness,  not  exceeding  .         . 

Liquors  prohibited  under  penalty,  not  exceeding 
Second  offence,  not  exceeding       .... 

Keeping  prohibited  liquors,  not  exceeding 
Sending  for  do.  ..... 

Fetching  do.  .... 

Going  upon  the  top  of  the  College, 

Cutting  off  the  lead,  ..... 

Concealing  the  transgression  of  the  19th  Law,* 

Tumultuous  noises, 

Second  offence, 

Refusing  to  give  evidence,         .... 

Rudeness  at  meals, 

Butler  and  cook  to  keep  utensils  clean,  not  exceeding 
Not  lodging  at  their  chambers,  not  exceeding 
Sending  Freshmen  in  studying  time, 
Keeping  guns,  and  going  on  skating,    • 
Firing  guns  or  pistols  in  College  yard. 
Fighting  or  hurting  any  person,  not  exceeding 


.     2 

10 

0 

0 

1 

6 

.     0 

1 

6 

ling    0 

0 

6 

.     0 

1 

6 

0 

2 

6 

.     0 

5 

0 

0 

2 

6 

eding  0 

1 

6 

0 

1 

6 

.     0 

1 

6 

0 

5 

0 

.     0 

1 

6 

0 

1 

6 

.     0 

3 

0 

0 

1 

6 

.     0 

0 

6 

0 

1 

6 

.     0 

1 

6 

0 

1 

6 

.     0 

1 

6 

0 

1 

6 

.     0 

3 

0 

0 

3 

0 

.     0 

1 

0 

0 

5 

0 

.     0 

1 

6 

0 

0 

9 

.     0 

1 

0 

0 

2 

6 

.     0 

1 

6 

In  reference  to  cutting  lead  from  the  old  College. 
11* 


126  COLLEGE   WORDS 

In  1761,  a  committee,  of  which  Lieutenant-Governor 
Hutchinson  was  a  member,  was  appointed  to  consider 
of  some  other  method  of  punishing  offenders.  Although 
they  did  not  altogether  abolish  mulcts,  yet  "  they  proposed 
that,  in  lieu  of  an  increase  of  mulcts,  absences  without  justi- 
fiable cause  from  any  exercise  of  the  College  should  subject 
the  delinquent  to  warning,  private  admonition,  exhortation 
to  duty,  and  public  admonition,  with  a  notification  to  parents ; 
when  recitations  had  been  omitted,  performance  of  them 
should  be  exacted  at  some  other  time  ;  and,  by  way  of  pun- 
ishment for  disorders,  confinement,  and  the  performance  of 
exercises  during  its  continuance,  should  be  enjoined."  — 
Qiiincy''s  Hist,  Harv.  Univ.^  Vol.  II.  pp.  135,  136. 

By  the  laws  of  1798,  fines  not  exceeding  one  dollar  were 
imposed  by  a  Professor  or  Tutor,  or  the  Librarian  ;  not  ex- 
ceeding two  dollars,  by  the  President ;  all  above  two  dollars, 
by  the  President,  Professors,  and  Tutors,  at  a  meeting. 

"  Of  fines,"  says  President  Woolsey,  in  his  Historical  Dis- 
course relating  to  Yale  College,  "  the  laws  are  full,  and 
other  documents  show  that  the  laws  did  not  sleep.  Thus 
there  was  in  1748  a  fine  of  a  penny  for  the  absence  of  an 
undergraduate  from  prayers,  and  of  a  half-penny  for  tardi-  , 
ness  or  coming  in  after  the  introductory  collect;  of  four- 
pence  for  absence  from  public  worship  ;  of  from  two  to  six- 
pence for  absence  from  one's  chamber  during  the  time  of 
study;  of  one  shilling  for  picking  open  a  lock  the  first  time, 
and  two  shillings  the  second  ;  of  two  and  sixpence  for  play- 
ing at  cards  or  dice,  or  for  bringing  strong  liquor  into  Col- 
lege ;  of  one  shilling  for  doing  damage  to  the  College  or 
jumping  out  of  the  windows,  —  and  so  in  many  other 
eases. 

"  In  the  year  1759,  a  somewhat  unfair  pamphlet  was 
written,  which  gave  occasion  to  several  others  in  quick  suc- 
cession, wherein,  amidst  other  complaints  of  President  Clap's 
administration,  mention  is  made  of  the  large  amount  of 
fines  imposed  upon  students.  The  author,  after  mentioning 
that  in  three  years'  time  over  one  hundred  and  seventy-two 
pounds  of  lawful  money  was  collected  in  this  way,  goes  on 


AND    CUSTOMS.  127 

to  add,  that  '  such  an  exorbitant  collection  by  fines  tempts 
one  to  suspect  that  they  have  got  together  a  most  disorderly 
set  of  young  men  training  up  for  the  service  of  the  churches, 
or  that  they  are  governed  and  corrected  chiefly  by  pecuniary 
punishments  ;  —  that  almost  all  sins  in  that  society  are  purged 
and  atoned  for  by  money.'  He  adds,  with  justice,  that  these 
fines  do  not  fall  on  the  persons  of  the  offenders,  —  most  of 
the  students  being  minors,  —  but  upon  their  parents  ;  and 
that  the  practice  takes  place  chiefly  where  there  is  the  least 
prospect  of  working  a  reformation,  since  the  thoughtless 
and  extravagant,  being  the  principal  offenders  against  Col- 
lege law,  would  not  lay  it  to  heart  if  their  frolics  should  cost 
them  a  little  more  by  way  of  fine.  He  further  expresses  his 
opinion  that  this  way  of  punishing  the  children  of  the  Col- 
lege has  but  little  tendency  to  better  their  hearts  and  reform 
their  manners  ;  that  pecuniary  impositions  act  only  by  touch- 
ing the  shame  or  covetousness  or  necessities  of  those  upon 
whom  they  are  levied  ;  and  that  fines  had  ceased  to  become 
dishonorable  at  College,  while  to  appeal  to  the  love  of  money 
was  expelling  one  devil  by  another,  and  to  restrain  the  ne- 
cessitous by  fear  of  fine  would  be  extremely  cruel  and  un- 
equal. These  and  other  considerations  are  very  properly 
urged,  and  the  same  feeling  is  manifested  in  the  laws  by  the 
gradual  abolition  of  nearly  all  pecuniary  mulcts.  The  prac- 
tice, it  ought  to  be  added,  was  by  no  means  peculiar  to  Yale 
College,  but  was  transferred,  even  in  a  milder  form,  from  the 
colleges  of  England."  —  pp.  47,  48. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  it  may  not  be  inappropri- 
ate to  mention  the  following  occurrence,  which  is  said  to 
have  taken  place  at  Harvard  College. 

Dr. ,  in  propria  persona,  called  upon  a  Southern 

student  one  morning  in  the  recitation-room  to  define  logic. 

The   question  was   something   in   this  form.     "  Mr.  , 

what  is  logic  ?  "  Ans.  "  Logic,  Sir,  is  the  art  of  reason- 
ing." "  Ay  ;  but  I  wish  you  to  give  the  definition  in  the 
exact  words  of  the  learned  author.'*''  "  O,  Sir,  he  gives  a 
very  long,  intricate,  confused  definition,  with  which  I  did 
not  think  proper  to  burden  my  memory."     "  Are  you  aware 


128  COLLEGE    WORDS 

who  the  learned  author  is  ?  "  '  *  O,  yes !  your  honor,  Sir." 
"  Well,  then,  I  fine  you  one  dollar  for  disrespect."  Taking 
out  a  two-dollar  note,  the  student  said,  with  the  utmost 
sangfroid^  "  If  you  will  change  this,  I  will  pay  you  on  the 
spot."  ''  I  fine  you  another  dollar,"  said  the  Professor, 
emphatically,  "  for  repeated  disrespect."  "  Then  't  is  just 
the  change.  Sir,"  said  the  student,  coolly. 

FIRST-YEAR  MEN.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng- 
land,  the  title  of  First-Year  Men,  or  Freshmen,  is  given  to 
students  during  the  first  year  of  their  residence  at  the  Uni- 
versity. 

FISH.  At  Harvard  College,  to  seek  or  gain  the  good-will  of 
an  instructor  by  flattery,  caresses,  kindness,  or  officious 
civilities  ;  to  curry  favor.  The  German  word  Jischen  has  a 
secondary  meaning,  to  get  by  cunning,  which  is  similar  to 
the  English  \wovdiJish,  Students  speak  of  fishing  for  parts, 
appointments,  ranks,  marks,  &;c. 

I  give  to  those  ih?iX  fish  for  parts 
Long,  sleepless  nights,  and  aching  hearts, 
A  little  soul,  a  fawning  spirit, 
With  half  a  grain  of  plodding  merit, 
Which  is,  as  Heaven  I  hope  will  say, 
Giving  what  's  not  my  own  away. 

Will  of  Charles  Prentiss,  in  Rural  Repository,  1795. 

Who  would  let  a  Tutor  knave 
Screwjiim  like  a  Guinea  slave  ! 
Who  would  fish  a  fine  to  save ! 

Let  him  turn  and  flee.  —  RebelJiad,  p.  53. 

Did  I  not  promise  those  who  fished 

And  pimped  most,  any  part  they  wished?  —  Ibid.,  p.  33. 

T  is  all  well  here  ;  though  't  were  a  grand  mistake 
To  write  so,  should  one  *•'  fish  "  for  a  "  forty-eight !  " 

Childe  Harvard,  p.  33. 

Still  achieving,  still  intriguing. 
Learn  to  labor  and  to  fish. 

Poem  before  Y.  H.,  1849. 

The  following  passage  explains  more  clearly,  perhaps,  the 


AND    CUSTOMS.  129 

meaning  of  this  word.  "  Any  attempt  to  raise  your  stand- 
ing by  ingratiating  yourself  with  the  instructors,  will  not 
only  be  useless,  but  dishonorable.  Of  course,  in  your  inter- 
course with  the  Professors  and  Tutors,  you  will  not  be  want- 
ing in  that  respect  and  courtesy  which  is  due  to  them,  both 
as  your  superiors  and  as  gentlemen."  —  Harvardiana^  Vol. 
III.  p.  79. 

Washington  AUston,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  the  year  1800,  left  a  painting  of  a  fishing  scene,  to  be 
transmitted  from  class  to  class.  It  was  in  existence  in  the 
year  1828,  but  has  disappeared  of  late. 

FISH.        I      One  who  attempts  to  ingratiate  himself  with  his 
FISHER,  j  instructor,  thereby  to  obtain  favor  or  advantage  ; 
one  who  curries  favor. 

FISHING.     The  act  performed  by  a  fisher. 

To  those  who  Ve  parts  at  exhibition, 
Obtained  by  long,  unwearied  fishing, 
I  say,  to  such  unlucky  wretches, 
I  give,  for  wear,  a  brace  of  breeches. 

Will  of  Charles  Prentiss,  in  Rural  Repository,  1795. 
And,  since  his  fishing  on  the  land  was  vain, 
To  try  his  luck  upon  the  azure  main. 

Class  Poem,  1835. 

At  Dartmouth  College,  the  electioneering  for  members  of 
the  secret  societies  was  formerly  called  fishing.  At  the 
same  institution,  individuals  in  the  Senior  Class  were  said 
to  be  fishing  for  appointments,  if  they  tried  to  gain  the 
gdod-will  of  the  Faculty  by  any  special  means. 

FIVES.  A  kind  of  play  with  a  ball  against  the  side  of  a 
building,  resembling  tennis  ;  so  named,  because  three  fives 
or  fifteen  are  counted  to  the  game.  —  Smart, 

A  correspondent,  writing  of  Centre  College,  Ky.,  says : 
"  Fives  was  a  game  very  much  in  vogue,  at  which  the  Pres- 
ident would  often  take  a  hand,  and  while  the  students  would 
play  for  ice-cream  or  some  other  refreshment,  he  would 
never  fail  to  come  in  for  his  share." 

FIZZLE.      Halliwell  says :  "  The   half-hiss,  half-sigh  of  an 


130  COLLEGE   WORDS 

animal."  In  many  colleges  in  the  United  States,  this  word 
is  applied  to  a  bad  recitation,  probably  from  the  want  of  dis- 
tinct articulation,  which  usually  attends  such  performances. 
It  is  further  explained  in  the  Yale  Banger,  November  10, 
1846  :  "  This  figure  of  a  wounded  snake  is  intended  to  rep- 
resent what  in  technical  language  is  termed  a  fizzle.  The 
best  judges  have  decided,  that  to  get  just  one  third  of  the 
meaning  right  constitutes  a  perfect  fizzle."^"* 

With  a  mind  and  body  so  nearly  at  rest,  that  naught  interrupted 
my  inmost  repose  save  cloudy  reminiscences  of  a  morning  ^^  fizzle'*'' 
and  an  afternoon  "  flunk,"  my  tranquillity  was  sufficiently  envi- 
able. —  Yale  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol  XV.  p.  114. 

Here  he  co\\[di  fizzles  mark  without  a  sigh, 
And  see  orations  unregarded  die. 

The  Tomahawk,  Nov.,  1849. 
Not  a  wail  was  heard,  or  a  ^'  fizzle^ s  "  mild  sigh. 
As  his  corpse  o'er  the  pavement  we  hurried. 

The  Gallinipper,  Dec,  1849. 
At  Princeton  College,  the  word  blue  is  used  with  fizzle,  to 
render  it  intensive  ;  as  he  made  a  blue  fizzle,  he  fizzled  blue, 

FIZZLE.  To  fail  in  reciting ;  to  recite  badly.  A  corre- 
spondent from  Williams  College  says  :  "  Flunk  is  the  com- 
mon word  when  some  unfortunate  man  makes  an  utter  fail- 
ure in  recitation.  He  fizzles  when  he  stumbles  through  at 
last."  Another  from  Union  writes  :  "  If  you  have  been  lazy, 
you  will  probably  fizzled  A  writer  in  the  Yale  Literary 
Magazine  thus  humorously  defines  this  word  :  "  Fizzle.  To 
rise  with  modest  reluctance,  to  hesitate  often,  to  decline 
finally ;  generally,  to  misunderstand  the  question."  —  Vol. 
XIV.  p.  144. 

My  dignity  is  outraged  at  beholding  those  who  fizzle  and  flunk 
in  my  presence  tower  above  me.  —  The  Yale  Banger,  Oct.  22,  1847. 
The  verb  to  fizzle  out,  which  is  used  at  the  West,  has  a 
little  stronger  signification,  viz.  to  be  quenched,  extin- 
guished ;  to  prove  a  failure.  —  Bartletfs  Diet.  Ameri' 
canisms. 

The  factious  and  revolutionary  action  of  the  fifteen  has  inter- 
rupted the  regular  business  of  the  Senate,  disgraced  the  actors, 
?iii^  fizzled  out.  —  Cincinnati  Gazette. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  131 

2.   To   cause   one   to   fail   in  reciting.      Said  of  an  in- 
structor. 

Fizzle  him  tenderly, 

Bore  him  with  care, 
Fitted  so  slenderly, 
Tutor,  beware. 

Yale  Lit,  Mag.,  Vol.  XIII.  p.  321. 
FIZZLING.     Reciting  badly  ;  the  act  of  making  a  poor  reci- 
tation. 

Weather  drizzling, 
Freshmen  fizzling. 

Yale  Lit,  Mag.,  Vol.  XV.  p.  212. 

FLASH-IN-THE-PAN.  A  student  is  said  to  make  d. flash- 
in-the-pan  when  he  commences  to  recite  brilliantly,  and 
suddenly  fails ;  the  latter  part  of  such  a  recitation  is  a 
Fizzle.  The  metaphor  is  borrowed  from  a  gun,  which, 
after  being  primed,  loaded,  and  ready  to  be  discharged, 
flashes  in  the  pan. 

FLOP.  A  correspondent  from  the  University  of  Vermont 
writes  :  "  Any  '  cute '  performance  by  which  a  man  is  sold 
[deceived]  is  a  good  flop,  and,  by  a  phrase  borrowed  from 
the  ball  ground,  is  '  rightly  played.'  The  discomfited  indi- 
vidual declares  that  they  '  are  all  on  a  side,'  and  gives  up, 
or  '  rolls  over '  by  giving  his  opponent  '  gowdy.'  "  "  A 
man  writes  cards  during  examination  to  '  feeze  the  profs ' ; 
said  cards  are  '  gumming  cards,'  and  he  flops  the  examina- 
tion if  he  gets  a  good  mark  by  the  means."  One  usually 
flops  his  marks  by  feigning  sickness. 

FLUMMUX.  Any  failure  is  called  a  flummux.  In  some  col- 
leges the  word  is  particularly  applied  to  a  poor  recitation. 
At  Williams  College,  a  failure  on  the  play-ground  is  called 
a  flummux. 

FLUMMUX.  To  fail ;  to  recite  badly.  Mr.  Bartlett,  in  his 
Dictionary  of  Americanisms,  has  the  word  flummix,  to  be 
overcome ;  to  be  frightened  ;  to  give  way  to. 

Perhaps  Parson  Hyme  did  n't  put  it  into  Pokerville  for  two  mor- 
tal hours  ;  and  perhaps  Pokerville  did  n't  mizzle,. wince,  and  finally 
ftummix  right  beneath  him.  —  Field,  Drama  in  Pokerville. 


132  COLLEGE   WORDS 

FLUNK.  This  word  is  used  in  some  American  colleges  to 
denote  a  complete  failure  in  recitation. 

This,  0,  [signifying-  neither  beginning  nor  end,]  Tutor  H 

said  meant  a  perfect  flunk.  —  The  Yale  Banger^  Nov.  10,  1846. 

I  've  made  some  twelve  or  fourteen  flunks.  —  The  Gallinipper, 
Dec,  1849. 

And  that  bold  man  must  bear  a.  flunk,  or  die, 
Who,  when  John  pleased  be  captious,  dared  reply. 

Yale  Tomahaiok,  Nov.,  1849. 
The  Sabbath  dawns  upon  the  poor  student  burdened  with  the 
thought  of  the  lesson,  oi  flunk  of  the  morrow  morning.  —  Ibid,, 
Feb.,  1851. 

He  thought 

First  of  his  distant  home  and  parents,  tunc. 
Of  tutors'  note-books,  and  the  morrow's ^wn^. 

Ibid,,  Feb.,  1851, 
The  words  flunk  and  funk  are  sometimes  used  to  denote 
any  fault  or  failure. 

So  my  friend's  first  fault  is  timidity,  which  is  only  not  recognized 
as  such  on  account  of  its  vast  proportions.  I  grant,  then,  that  the 
funk  is  sublime,  which  is  a  true  and  friendly  admission.  — A  letter 
to  the  N,  Y,  Tribune,  in  Lit.  World,  Nov.  30,  1850. 

FLUNK.  To  make  a  complete  failure  when  called  on  to  re- 
cite. A  writer  in  the  Yale  Literary  Magazine  defines  it,  "  to 
decline  peremptorily,  and  then  to  whisper,  '  I  had  it  all, 
except  that  confounded  little  place.'  "  —  Vol.  XIV.  p.  144. 

They  know  that  a  man  who  has  flunked,  because  too  much  of  a 
genius  to  get  his  lesson,  —  is  not  in  a  state  to  appreciate  joking.  — 
Amherst  Indicator,  Vol.  I.  p.  253. 

Nestor  was  appointed  to  deliver  a  poem,  but  most  ingloriously 
flunked.  — Ibid.,  Vol.  I.  p.  256. 

The  phrase  to  flunk  out,  which  Bartlett,  in  his  Dictionary 
of  Americanisms,  defines,  "  to  retire  through  fear ;  to  back 
out,"  is  of  the  same  nature  as  the  above  word. 

Why,  little  one,  you  must  be  cracked,  if  yon  flunk  out  before  we 
begin.  —  J.  C.  Neal. 

FLUNKING.     Failing  completely  in  reciting. 
Flunking  so  gloomily. 
Crushed  by  contumely. 

Yale  Lit.  Mag,,  Vol.  XIII.  p.  322. 


AND  CUSTOMS.  ISB 

We  made  our  earliest  call  while  the  man  first  called  up  in  the 
division- room  was  deliberately  and  gracefully 'J?MnAm^.'  —  Ibid., 
Vol.  XIV.  p.  190. 

See  what  a  spot  a  flunking  Soph'more  made  ! 

Yale  Gallinipper,'Noy.,  1848. 

FOOTBALL.  For  many  years,  the  game  of  football  has 
been  the  favorite  amusement  at  some  of  the  American  col- 
leges, during  certain  seasons  of  the  year.  At  Harvard  and 
Yale,  it  is  customary  for  the  Sophomore  Class  to  challenge  the 
Freshmen  to  a  trial  game,  soon  after  their  entrance  into  Col- 
lege. The  interest  excited  on  this  occasion  is  always  very 
great,  the  Seniors  usually  siding  with  the  former,  and  the 
Juniors  with  the  latter  class.  The  result  is  generally  in  fa- 
vor of  the  Sophomores.  College  poets  and  prose-writers  have 
often  chosen  the  game  of  football  as  a  topic  on  which  to 
exercise  their  descriptive  powers.  One  invokes  his  muse,  in 
imitation  of  a  great  poet,  as  follows  :  — 

*'  The  Freshmen's  wrath,  to  Sophs  the  direful  spring 
Of  shins  unnumbered  bruised,  great  goddess,  sing  !  " 
Another,  speaking  of  the  size  of  the  ball  in  ancient  times 
compared  with  what  it  is  at  present,  says  :  — 
**  A  ball  like  this,  so  monstrous  and  so  hard, 
Six  eager  Freshmen  scarce  could  kick  a  yard !  " 
Further  compositions  on  this  suhject  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Harvard  Register,  Harvardiana,  Yale  Banger,  &;c. 

See  Wrestling-Match. 

FORENSIC.  A  written  argument,  maintaining  either  the  af- 
firmative or  the  negative  side  of  a  question. 

In  Harvard  College,  the  two  senior  classes  are  required  to 
write  forensics,  once  in  every  four  weeks,  on  a  subject  as- 
signed by  the  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  ;  these  they 
read  before  him  and  the  division  of  the  class  to  which  they 
belong  on  appointed  days.  It  was  formerly  customary  for 
the  teacher  to  name  those  who  were  to  write  on  the  affirm- 
ative and  those  on  the  negative,  but  it  is  now  left  optional 
with  the  student  which  side  he  will  take.  This  word  was 
originally  used  as  an  adjective,  and  it  was  usual  to  speak 
12 


134  COLLEGE  WORDS 

of  a  forensic  dispute,  which   has  now  been  shortened  into 
forensic. 

For  every  unexcused  omission  of  2,  forensic,  or  of  reading  2i  foren- 
sic, a  deduction  shall  be  made  of  the  highest  number  of  marks  to 
which  that  exercise  is  entitled.  Seventy-two  is  the  highest  mark 
fox  for  ensics.  —  Laws  of  Univ.  at  Cam.,  Mass.,  1848. 

What  with  ihemes,  for  ensics,  letters,  memoranda,  notes  on  lec- 
tures, verses,  and  articles,  I  find  myself  considerably  hurried.  — 
Collegian,  1830,  p.  241. 

When 
I  call  to  mind  For  ensics  numberless,  ^ 

With  arguments' so  grave  and  erudite, 
I  never  understood  their  force  myself, 
But  trusted  that  my  sage  instructor  would. 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  403. 

FORK  ON.  At  Hamilton  College,  to  fork  on^  to  appropriate 
to  one's  self. 

FORTS.  At  Jefferson  and  at  Washington  Colleges  in  Penn- 
sylvania, the  boarding-houses  for  the  students  are  called/or<5. 

FOUNDATION.  A  donation  or  legacy  appropriated  to  sup- 
port an  institution,  and  constituting  a  permanent  fund,  usually 
for  a  charitable  purpose.  —  Welster, 

In  America  it  is  also  applied  to  a  donation  or  legacy  ap- 
propriated especially  to  maintain  poor  and  deserving,  or  other 
students  at  a  college. 

In  the  selection  of  candidates  for  the  various  beneficiary /own-- 
dations,  the  preference  will  be  given  to  those  who  are  of  exemplary 
conduct  and  scholarship.  —  Laws  of  Univ.  at  Cam,,  Mass.,  1848, 
p.  19. 

Scholars  on  this  foundation  are  to  be  called  '  *  scholars  of  the 
house."  —  Sketches  of  Yale  College,  p.  86. 

FOUNDATIONER.     One  who  derives  support  from  the  funds 
or  foundation  of  a  college  or  a  great  school.  —  Jackson, 
This  word  is  not  in  use  in  the  United  States. 
See  Beneficiary. 

FOX.  In  the  German  Universities,  a  student  during  the  first 
half-year  is  called  a  Fox  (Fuchs),  the  same  as  Freshman. 
To  this  the  epithet  nasty  is  sometimes  added. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  135 

**  Halloo  there,  Her(iman,/oa?  /  "  yelled  another  lusty  tippler,  and 
Herdman,  thus  appealed  to,  arose  and  emptied  the  contents  of  his 
glass.  —  Yale  Lit,  Mag.,  Vol.  XII.  p.  116. 

At  the  same  moment,  a  door  at  the  end  of  the  hall  was  thrown 
open,  and  a  procession  of  new-comers  or  Nasty  Foxes,  as  they  are 
called  in  the  college  dialect,  entered  two  by  two,  looking  wild,  and 
green,  and  foolish.  —  Longfellow'' s  Hyperion,  p.  109. 

See  also  in  the  last-mentioned  work  the  Fox  song. 

FREEZE.  A  correspondent  from  Williams  College  writes  : 
"  But  by  far  the  most  expressive  word  in  use  among  us  is 
Freeze.  The  meaning  of  it  might  be  felt,  if,  some  cold  morn- 
ing, you  would  place  your  tender  hand  upon  some  frosty 
door-latch  ;  it  would  be  a  striking  specimen  on  the  part  of 
the  door-latch  of  what  we  mean  by  Freeze,  Thus  wq  freeze 
to  apples  in  the  orchards,  to  fellows  whom  we  electioneer  for 
in  our  secret  societies,  and  alas  !  some  even  go  so  far  as  to 
freeze  to  the  ladies." 

FRESH.  An  abbreviation  for  Freshman  or  Freshmen ; 
Freshes  is  sometimes  used  for  the  plural. 

When  Sophs  met  Fresh,  power  met  opposing  power. 

Harv.  Reg.,  p.  251. 
The  Sophs  did  nothing  all  the  first  fortnight  but  torment  the  Fresh, 
as  they  call  us.  —  Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  76. 

Listen  to  the  low  murmurings  of  some  annihilated  Fresh  upon 
the  Delta.  —  Oration  before  H.  L.  of  L  O.  of  O.  F.,  1848. 

FRESH.  Newly  come  ;  likewise,  awkward,  like  a  Fresh- 
man. —  Grad.  ad  Cantab, 

For  their  behavior  at  table,  spitting  and  coughing,  and  speaking 
loud,  was  counted  uncivil  in  any  but  a  gentleman  ;  as  we  say  in  the 
university,  that  nothing  is  fresh  in  a  Senior,  and  to  him  it  was  a 
glory.  —  Archceol.  AtticcB,  Edit.  Oxon.,  1675,  B.  VI. 

FRESHMAN,  pi.  Freshmen.  In  England,  a  student  during 
his  first  year's  residence  at  the  university.  In  America,  one 
who  belongs  to  the  youngest  of  the  four  classes  in  college, 
called  the  Freshman  Class,  —  Webster, 

FRESHMAN.  Pertaining  to  a  Freshman,  or  to  the  class  called 
Freshmen, 


136  COLLEGE   WORDS 

FRESHMAN,  BUTLER'S.  At  Harvard  and  Yale  Colleges, 
a  Freshman,  formerly  hired  by  the  Butler,  to  perform  certain 
duties  pertaining  to  his  office,  was  called  by  this  name. 

The  Butler  may  be  allowed  a  Freshman,  to  do  the  foregoing 
duties,  and  to  deliver  articles  to  the  students  from  the  Buttery,  who 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  President  and  Tutors,  and  he  shall  be  al- 
lowed the  same  provision  in  the  Hall  as  the  Waiters ;  and  he  shall 
not  be  charged  in  the  Steward's  quarter-bills  under  the  heads  of 
Steward  and  Instruction  and  Sweepers,  Catalogue  and  Dinner.  — 
Laws  of  Harv.  Coll.,  1798,  p.  61. 

FRESHMAN  CLUB.  At  Hamilton  College,  it  is  customary 
for  the  new  Sophomore  Class  to  present  to  the  Freshmen  at 
the  commencement  of  the  first  term  a  heavy  cudgel,  six  feet 
long,  of  black  walnut,  brass  bound,  with  a  silver  plate  in- 
scribed "  Freshman  Cliiby  The  Club  is  given  to  the  one 
who  can  hold  it  out  at  arm's  length  the  longest  time,  and  the 
presentation  is  accompanied  with  an  address  from  one  of  the 
Sophomores  in  behalf  of  his  class.  He  who  receives  the 
club  is  styled  the  "leader."  The  "leader"  having  been 
declared,  after  an  appropriate  speech  from  a  Freshman  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose,  "  the  class,"  writes  a  correspondent, 
"form  a  procession,  march  around  the  College  yard,  the 
leader  carrying  the  club  before  them.  A  trial  is  then  made 
by  the  class  of  the  virtues  of  the  club,  on  the  Chapel  door." 

FRESHMAN,  COLLEGE.  In  Harvard  University,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Freshman  Class,  whose  duties  are  enumerated 
below.  "  On  Saturday,  after  the  exercises,  any  student  not 
specially  prohibited  may  go  out  of  town.  If  the  students 
thus  going  out  of  town  fail  to  return  so  as  to  be  present  at 
evening  prayers,  they  must  enter  their  names  with  the 
College  Freshman  within  the  hour  next  preceding  the  eve- 
ning study  bell  ;  and  all  students  who  shall  be  absent  from 
evening  prayers  on  Saturday  must  in  like  manner  enter 
their  names."  —  Statutes  and  Laws  of  the  Univ.  in  Cam,^ 
Mass,,  1825,  p.  42. 

The  College  Freshman  lived  in  No.  1,  Massachusetts 
Hall,  and  was  commonly  called  the  hook-keeper.  The 
duties  of  this  office  are  now  performed  by  one  of  the  Proc- 
tors. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  137 

FRESHMANHOOD.  The  state  of  a  Freshman,  or  the  time 
in  which  one  is  a  Freshman,  which  is  in  duration  a  year. 

But  yearneth  not  thy  laboring  heart,  O  Tom, 
For  those  dear  hours  of  simple  Freshmanhood  ? 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  HI.  p.  405. 

When  to  the  college  I  came,  in  the  first  dear  day  of  my  freshhood, 
Like  to  the  school  we  had  left  I  imagined  the  new  situation. 

Ibid,,  Vol.  III.  p.  98. 

FRESHMANIC.  Pertaining  to  a  Freshman ;  resembling  a 
Freshman,  or  his  condition. 

The  Junior  Class  had  heard  of  our  miraculous  doings,  and  asserted 
with  that  peculiar  dignity  which  should  at  all  times  excite  terror 
and  awe  in  the  Freshmanic  breast,  that  they  would  countenance  no 
such  proceedings.  —  Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  316. 

I  do  not  pine  for  those  Freshmanic  days.  —  Ibid,,  Vol.  III.  p.  405. 

FRESHMAN,  PARIETAL.  In  Harvard  College,  the  mem- 
ber  of  the  Freshman  Class  who  gives  notice  to  those  whom 
the  chairman  of  the  Parietal  Committee  wishes  to  see,  is 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Parietal  Freshman,  For  his 
services  he  receives  about  forty  dollars  per  annum,  and  the 
rent  of  his  room. 

FRESHMAN,  PRESIDENT'S.  A  member  of  the  Fresh- 
man Class  who  performs  the  official  errands  of  the  President, 
for  which  he  receives  the  same  compensation  as  the  Parie- 
tal Freshman. 

Then  Bibo  kicked  his  carpet  thrice. 
Which  brought  his  Freshman  in  a  trice. 
**  You  little  rascal !  go  and  call 
The  persons  mentioned  in  this  scroll." 
The  fellow,  hearing,  scarcely  feels 
The  ground,  so  quickly  fly  his  heels. 

Rebelliad,  p.  27. 

FRESHMAN,  REGENT'S.  In  Harvard  College,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Freshman  Class  whose  duties  are  given  below. 

"  When  any  student  shall  return  to  town,  after  having 
had  leave  of  absence  for  one  night  or  more,  or  after  any 
vacation,  he  shall  apply  to  the  Regents  Freshman,  at  his 
12* 


138  COLLEGE   WORDS 

room,  to  enter  the  time  of  his  return  ;  and  shall  tarry  till  he 
see  it  entered. 

"  The    Regenfs   Freshman   is   not    charged   under  the 
heads  of  Steward,   Instruction,   Sweepers,  Catalogue,  and 
Dinner." —  Laxcs  of  Harv.  Coll.^  1816,  pp.  46,  47. 
This  office  is  now  abolished. 

FRESHMAN'S  BIBLE.  This  is  the  name  given  by  the 
students  to  the  laws  of  a  college.  The  significancy  of  the 
word  Bible  is  seen,  when  the  position  in  which  the  laws  are 
intended  to  be  regarded  is  considered.  The  Freshman  is 
supposed  to  have  studied  and  to  be  more  familiar  with  the 
laws  than  any  one  else,  hence  the  propriety  of  using  his 
name  in  this  connection.  A  copy  of  the  laws  are  usually 
presented  to  each  student  on  his  entrance  into  college. 
See  College  Bible. 

FRESHMAN  SERVITUDE.  The  custom  which  formerly 
prevailed  in  the  older  American  colleges  of  allowing  the 
members  of  all  the  upper  classes  to  send  Freshmen  upon 
errands,  and  in  other  ways  to  treat  them  as  inferiors,  ap- 
pears at  the  present  day  strange  and  almost  unaccountable. 
That  our  forefathers  had  reasons  which  they  deemed  suffi- 
cient, not  only  for  allowing,  but  sanctioning,  this  subjection, 
we  cannot  doubt ;  but  what  these  were  we  are  not  able  to 
know  from  any  accounts  which  have  come  down  to  us  from 
the  past. 

"  On  attending  prayers  the  first  evening,"  says  one  who 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  near  the  close  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, "  no  sooner  had  the  President  pronounced  the  conclud- 
ing '  Amen,'  than  one  of  the  Sophomores  sung  out,  '  Stop, 
Freshmen,  and  hear  the  customs  read.'  "  An  account  of 
these  customs  is  given  in  President  Quincy's  History  of 
Harvard  University,  Vol.  II.  p.  539.  It  is  entitled,  "  The 
Ancient  Customs  of  Harvard  College,  established  by 
THE  Government  of  it." 

"1.  No  Freshman  shall  wear  his  hat  in  the  College  yard,  unless 
it  rains,  hails,  or  snows,  provided  he  be  on  foot,  and  have  not  both 
hands  full. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  189 

"2.  No  Undergraduate  shall  wear  his  hat  in  the  College  yard 
when  any  of  the  Governors  of  the  College  are  there ;  and  no  Bach- 
elor shall  wear  his  hat  when  the  President  is  there. 

*'  3.  Freshmen  are  to  consider  all  the  other  classes  as  their 
seniors. 

"  4.  No  Freshman  shall  speak  to  a  Senior  with  his  hat  on,  or 
have  it  on  in  a  Senior's  chamber,  or  in  his  own,  if  a  Senior  be 
there. 

*'  5.  All  the  Undergraduates  shall  treat  those  in  the  Government 
of  the  College  with  respect  and  deference  ;  particularly  they  shall 
not  be  seated  without  leave  in  their  presence  ;  they  shall  be  uncov- 
ered when  they  speak  to  them  or  are  spoken  to  by  them. 

'*6.  All  Freshrhen  (except  those  employed  by  the  Immediate 
Government  of  the  College)  shall  be  obliged  to  go  on  any  errand 
(except  such  as  shall  be  judged  improper  by  some  one  in  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  College)  for  any  of  his  Seniors,  Graduates  or  Un- 
dergraduates, at  any  time,  except  in  studying  hours,  or  after  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening. 

"  7.  A  Senior  Sophister  has  authority  to  take  a  Freshman  from 
a  Sophomore,  a  Middle  Bachelor  from  a  Junior  Sophister,  a  Master 
from  a  Senior  Sophister,  and  any  Governor  of  the  College  from  a 
Master. 

"  8.  Every  Freshman  before  he  goes  for  the  person  who  takes 
him  away  (unless  it  be  one  in  the  Government  of  the  College)  shall 
return  and  inform  the  person  from  whom  he  is  taken. 

"9.  No  Freshman,  when  sent  on  an  errand,  shall  make  any 
unnecessary  delay,  neglect  to  make  due  return,  or  go  away  till 
dismissed  by  the  person  who  sent  him. 

"10.  No  Freshman  shall  be  detained  by  a  Senior,  when  not 
actually  employed  on  some  suitable  errand. 

"11.  No  Freshman  shall  be  obliged  to  observe  any  order  of  a 
Senior  to  come  to  him,  or  go  on  any  errand  for  him,  unless  he  be 
wanted  immediately. 

"12.  No  Freshman,  when  sent  on  an  errand,  shall  tell  who  he 
is  going  for,  unless  he  be  asked  ;  nor  be  obhged  to  tell  what  he  is 
going  for,  unless  asked  by  a  Governor  of  the  College. 

"13.  When  any  person  knocks  at  a  Freshman's  door,  except  in 
studying  time,  he  shall  immediately  open  the  door,  without  inquir- 
ing who  is  there. 

"14.  No  scholar  shall  call  up  or  down,  to  or  from,  any  cham- 
ber in  the  College. 

"15.  No  scholar  shall  play  football  or  any  other  game  in  the 
College  yard,  or  throw  any  thing  across  the  yard. 


140  COLLEGE   WORDS 

"16.  The  Freshmen  shall  furnish  bats,  balls,  and  footballs  for 
the  use  of  the  students,  to  be  kept  at  the  Buttery. 

"17.  Every  Freshman  shall  pay  the  Butler  for  putting  up  his 
name  in  the  Buttery. 

"  18.  Strict  attention  shall  be  paid  by  all  the  students  to  the 
common  rules  of  cleanliness,  decency,  and  politeness. 

"  The  Sophomores  shall  publish  these  customs  to  the  Freshmen 
in  the  Chapel,  whenever  ordered  by  any  in  the  Government  of  the 
College  ;  at  which  time  the  Freshmen  are  enjoined  to  keep  their 
places  in  their  seats,  and  attend  with  decency  to  the  reading." 

A  written  copy  of  these  regulations  in  Latin,  of  a  very- 
early  date,  is  still  extant.  They  appear  first  in  English,  in 
the  fourth  volume  of  the  Immediate  Government  Books, 
1781,  p.  257.  The  two  following  laws  —  one  of  which 
was  passed  soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  College,  the 
other  in  the  year  1734 — seem  to  have  been  the  foundation 
of  these  rules.  "  Nulli  ex  scholaribus  senioribus,  solis  tuto- 
ribus  et  collegii  sociis  exceptis,  recentem  sive  juniorem,  ad 
itinerandum,  aut  ad  aliud  quodvis  faciendum,  minis,  verberi- 
bus,  vel  aliis  modis  impellere  licebit.  Et  siquis  non  grada- 
tus  in  banc  legem  peccaverit,  castigatione  corporal i,  expul- 
sione,  vel  alitor,  prout  prsesidi  cum  sociis  visum  fuerit  puni- 
etur."  --  Mather's  Magnolia,  B.  IV.  p.  133. 

"  None  belonging  to  the  College,  except  the  President, 
Fellows,  Professors,  and  Tutors,  shall  by  threats  or  blows 
compel  a  Freshman  or  any  Undergraduate  to  any  duty  or 
obedience ;  and  if  any  Undergraduate  shall  offend  against 
this  law,  he  shall  be  liable  to  have  the  privilege  of  sending 
Freshmen  taken  from  him  by  the  President  and  Tutors,  or 
be  degraded  or  expelled,  according  to  the  aggravation  of 
the  offence.  Neither  shall  any  Senior  scholars,  Graduates, 
or  Undergraduates  send  any  Freshman  on  errands  in  study- 
ing hours,  without  leave  from  one  of  the  Tutors,  his  own 
Tutor  if  in  College."  —  Peirce's  Hist,  Harv,  TJniv.^  App., 
p.  141. 

That  this  privilege  of  sending  Freshmen  on  errands  was 
abused  in  some  cases,  we  see  from  an  account  of  "  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Corporation  in  Cambridge,  March  27th,  1682," 
at  which  time  notice  was  given  that  "  great  complaints  have 


AND   CUSTOMS.  141 

been  made  and  proved  against ,  for  his  abusive  car- 
riage, in  requiring  some  of  the  Freshmen  to  go  upon  his 
private  errands,  and  in  striking  the  said  Freshmen." 

In  the  year  1772,  "  the  Overseers  having  repeatedly  rec- 
ommended abolishing  the  custom  of  allowing  the  upper 
classes  to  send  Freshmen  on  errands,  and  the  making  of  a 
law  exempting  them  from  such  services,  the  Corporation 
voted,  that,  'after  deliberate  consideration  and  weighing  all 
circumstances,  they  are  not  able  to  project  any  plan  in  the 
room  orthis  long  and  ancient  custom,  that  will  not,  in  their 
opinion,  be  attended  with  equal,  if  not  greater,  inconven- 
iences.' "  It  seems,  however,  to  have  fallen  into  disuse,  for 
a  time  at  least,  after  this  period,  for  in  June,  1786,  "  the 
retaining  men  or  boys  to  perform  the  services  for  which 
Freshmen  had  been  heretofore  employed,"  was  declared  to 
be  a  growing  evil,  and  was  prohibited  by  the  Corporation. 
—  Quincy'^s  Hist.  Harv.  TJniv.^  Vol.  I.  p.  515  ;  Vol.  II. 
pp.  274,  277. 

The  upper  classes  being  thus  forbidden  to  employ  persons 
not  connected  with  the  College  to  wait  upon  them,  the  ser- 
vices of  Freshmen  were  again  brought  into  requisition,  and 
they  were  not  wholly  exempted  from  menial  labor  until 
after  the  year  1800. 

Another  service  which  the  Freshmen  were  called  on  to 
perform,  was  once  every  year  to  shake  the  carpets  of  the 
^Library  and  Philosophy  Chamber  in  the  Chapel. 

Those  who  refused  to  comply  with  these  regulations  were 
not  allowed  to  remain  in  College,  as  appears  from  the  fol- 
lowing circumstance  which  happened  about  the  year  1790. 
A  young  man  from  the  West  Indies,  of  wealthy  and  highly 
respectable  parents,  entered  Freshman,  and  soon  after,  being 
ordered  by  a  member  of  one  of  the  upper  classes  to  go 
upon  an  errand  for  him,  refused,  at  the  same  time  saying, 
that  if  he  had  known  it  was  the  custom  to  require  the  lower 
class  to  wait  on  the  other  classes,  he  would  have  brought  a 
slave  with  him  to  perform  his  share  of  these  duties.  In  the 
common  phrase  of  the  day,  he  was  hoisted^  i.  e.  complained 
of  to  a  tutor,  and  on  being  told  that  he  could   not  remain  at 


142  COLLEGE    WORDS 

College  if  he  did  not  comply  with  its  regulations,  he  took  up 
his  connections  and  returned  home. 

The  following  account  of  this  system,  as  it  formerly  ob- 
tained at  Yale  College,  is  from  President  Woolsey's  Histor- 
ical Discourse  before  the  Graduates  of  that  Institution,  Aug. 
14,  1850.  "  Another  remarkable  particular  in  the  old  sys- 
tem here  was  the  servitude  of  Freshmen,  —  for  such  it 
really  deserved  to  be  called.  The  new-comers  —  as  if  it 
had  been  to  try  their  patience  and  endurance  in  a  novitiate 
before  being  received  into  some  monastic  order  —  were  put 
into  the  hands  of  Seniors,  to  be  reproved  and  instructed  in 
manners,  and  were  obliged  to  run  upon  errands  for  the 
members  of  all  the  upper  classes.  And  all  this  was  very 
gravely  meant,  and  continued  long  in  use.  The  Seniors 
considered  it  as  a  part  of  the  system  to  initiate  the  ignorant 
striplings  into  the  college  system,  and  performed  it  with  the 
decorum  of  dancing-masters.  And,  if  the  Freshmen  felt 
the  burden,  the  upper  classes  who  had  outlived  it,  and  were 
now  reaping  the  advantages  of  it,  were  not  willing  that  the 
custom  should  die  in  their  time. 

"  The  following  paper,  printed  I  cannot  tell  when,  but  as 
early  as  the  year  1764,  gives  information  to  the  Freshmen 
in  regard  to  their  duty  of  respect  towards  the  officers,  and 
towards  the  older  students.  It  is  entitled  '  Freshman 
Laws,'  and  is  perhaps  part  of  a  book  of  customs  which  was 
annually  read  for  the  instruction  of  new-comers. 

"  *It  being  the  duty  of  the  Seniors  to  teach  Freshmen  the  laws, 
usages,  and  customs  of  the  College,  to  this  end  they  are  empowered 
to  order  the  whole  Freshman  Class,  or  any  particular  member  of  it, 
to  appear,  in  order  to  be  instructed  or  reproved,  at  such  time  and 
place  as  they  shall  appoint ;  when  and  where  every  Freshman  shall 
attend,  answer  all  proper  questions,  and  behave  decently.  The 
Seniors,  however,  are  not  to  detain  a  Freshman  more  than  five 
minutes  after  study  bell,  without  special  order  from  the  President, 
Professor,  or  Tutor. 

** '  The  Freshmen,  as  well  as  all  other  undergraduates,  are  to  be 
uncovered,  and  are  forbidden  to  wear  their  hats  (unless  in  stormy 
weather)  in  the  front  door-yard  of  the  President's  or  Professor's 
house,  or  within  ten  rods  of  the  person  of  the  President,  eight  rods 
of  the  Professor,  and  five  rods  of  a  Tutor. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  143 

**  *  The  Freshmen  are  forbidden  to  wear  their  hats  in  College  yard 
(except  in  stormy  weather,  or  when  they  are  obliged  to  carry  some- 
thing in  their  hands)  until  May  vacation ;  nor  shall  they  afterwards 
wear  them  in  College  or  Chapel. 

"  *  No  Freshman  shall  wear  a  gown,  or  walk  with  a  cane,  or  ap- 
pear out  of  his  room  without  being  completely  dressed,  and  with 
his  hat ;  and  whenever  a  Freshman  either  speaks  to  a  superior  or 
is  spoken  to  by  one,  he  shall  keep  his  hat  off  until  he  is  bidden  to 
put  it  on.  A  Freshman  shall  not  play  with  any  members  of  an  up- 
per class,  without  being  asked  ;  nor  is  he  permitted  to  use  any  acts 
of  familiarity  with  them,  even  in  study  time. 

**  '  In  case  of  personal  insult,  a  Junior  may  call  up  a  Freshman 
and  reprehend  him.  A  Sophomore,  in  like  case,  must  obtain  leave 
from  a  Senior,  and  then  he  may  discipline  a  Freshman,  not  detain- 
ing him  more  than  five  minutes,  after  which  the  Freshman  may 
retire,  even  without  being  dismissed,  but  must  retire  in  a  respectful 
manner. 

*'  *  Freshmen  are  obliged  to  perform  all  reasonable  errands  for 
any  superior,  always  returning  an  account  of  the  same  to  the  per- 
son who  sent  them.  When  called,  they  shall  attend  and  give  a  re- 
spectful answer  ;  and  when  attending  on  their  superior,  they  are 
not  to  depart  until  regularly  dismissed.  They  are  responsible  for 
all  damage  done  to  any  thing  put  into  their  hands  by  way  of  er- 
rand. They  are  not  obliged  to  go  for  the  Undergraduates  in  study 
time,  without  permission  obtained  from  the  authority  ;  nor  are 
they  obliged  to  go  for  a  graduate  out  of  the  yard  in  study  time. 
A  Senior  may  take  a  Freshman  from  a  Sophimore,  a  Bachelor 
from  a  Junior,  and  a  Master  from  a  Senior.  None  may  order  a 
Freshman,  in  one  play  time,  to  do  an  errand  in  another. 

"  *  When  a  Freshman  is  near  a  gate  or  door  belonging  to  College 
or  College  yard,  he  shall  look  around  and  observe  whether  any  of 
his  superiors  are  coming  to  the  same  ;  and  if  any  are  coming  with- 
in three  rods,  he  shall  not  enter  without  a  signal  to  proceed.  In 
passing  up  or  down  stairs,  or  through  an  entry  or  any  other  narrow 
passage,  if  a  Freshman  meets  a  superior,  he  shall  stop  and  give 
way,  leaving  the  most  convenient  side,  —  if  on  the  stairs,  the  ban- 
ister side.  Freshmen  shall  not  run  in  College  yard,  or  up  or  down 
stairs,  or  call  to  any  one  through  a  College  window.  When  going 
into  the  chamber  of  a  superior,  they  shall  knock  at  the  door,  and 
shall  leave  it  as  they  find  it,  whether  open  or  shut.  Upon  enter- 
ing the  chamber  of  a  superior,  they  shall  not  speak  until  spoken 
to  ;  they  shall  reply  modestly  to  all  questions,  and  perform  their 
messages  decently  and  respectfully.     They  shall  not  tarry  in  a 


174  COLLEGE   WORDS 

superior's  room,  after  they  are  dismissed,  unless  asked  to  sit. 
They  shall  always  rise  whenever  a  superior  enters  or  leaves  the 
room  where  they  are,  and  not  sit  in  his  presence  until  permitted. 

**  *  These  rules  are  to  be  observed, -not  only  about  College,  but 
everywhere  else  within  the  limits  of  the  city  of  New  Haven.' 

"This  is  certainly  a  very  remarkable  document,  one 
which  it  requires  some  faith  to  look  on  as  originating  in  this 
land  of  universal  suffrage,  in  the  same  century  with  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence.  He  who  had  been  moulded  and 
reduced  into  shape  by  such  a  system'  might  soon  become 
expert  in  the  punctilios  of  the  court  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth. 

"  This  system,  however,  had  more  tenacity  of  life  than 
might  be  supposed.  In  1800  we  still  find  it  laid  down  as 
the  Senior's  duty  to  inspect  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
lower  classes,  and  especially  of  the  Freshmen  ;  and  as  the 
duty  of  the  latter  to  do  any  proper  errand,  not  only  for  the 
authorities  of  the  College,  but  also,  within  the  limits  of  one 
mile,  for  resident  graduates  and  for  the  two  upper  classes. 
By  degrees  the  old  usage  sank  down  so  far,  that  what  the 
laws  permitted  was  frequently  abused  for  the  purpose  of 
playing  tricks  upon  the  inexperienced  Freshmen  ;  and  then 
all  evidence  of  its  ever  having  been  current  disappeared 
from  the  College  code.  The  Freshmen  were  formally  ex- 
empted from  the  duty  of  running  upon  errands  in  1804."  — 
pp.  54-56. 

In  the  Sketches  of  Yale  College,  p.  174,  is  the  following 
anecdote,  relating  to  this  subject :  —  "A  Freshman  was  once 
furnished  with  a  dollar,  and  ordered  by  one  of  the  upper 
classes  to  procure  for  him  pipes  and  tobacco,  from  the  farthest 
store  on  Long  Wharf,  a  good  mile  distant.  Being  at  that 
time  compelled  by  College  laws  to  obey  the  unreasonable  de- 
mand, he  proceeded  according  to  orders,  and  returned  with 
ninety-nine  cents  worth  of  pipes  and  one  pennyworth  of 
tobacco.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  he  was  not  again  sent  on 
a  similar  errand." 

The  custom  of  obliging  the  Freshmen  to  run  on  errands 
for  the  Seniors  was  done  away  with  at  Dartmouth  College, 
by  the  class  of  1797,  at  the  close  of  their  Freshman  year, 


AND    CUSTOBIS.  145 

when,  having  served  their  own  lime  out,  they  presented  a 
petition  to  the  trustees  to  have  it  abolished. 

In  the  old  laws  of  Middlebury  College  are  the  two  follow- 
ing regulations  in  regard  to  Freshmen,  which  seem  to  breathe 
the  same  spirit  as  those  cited  above.  "  Every  Freshman 
shall  be  obliged  to  do  any  proper  errand  or  message  for  the 
Authority  of  the  College."  —  "  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Senior  Class  to  inspect  the  manners  of  the  Freshman  Class, 
and  to  instruct  them  in  the  customs  of  the  College,  and  in 
that  graceful  and  decent  behavior  toward  superiors,  which 
politeness  and  a  just  and  reasonable  subordination  require." 
—  Laws^  1804,  pp.  6,  7. 

FRESHMANSHIP.     The  state  of  a  Freshman. 

FRESHMAN,  TUTOR'S.  In  Harvard  College,  the  Fresh- 
man who  occupies  a  room  under  a  Tutor.  He  is  required 
to  do  the  errands  of  the  Tutor  which  relate  to  College,  and  in 
return  has  a  high  choice  of  rooms  in  his  Sophomore  year. 

The  same  remarks,  mutatis  mutandis^  ^PP^y  to  the  ProC' 
tor'^s  Freshman, 

FRESH-SOPH.  An  abbreviation  of  Freshman- Sophomore, 
One  who  enters  college  in  the  Sophomore  year,  having  passed 
the  time  of  the  Freshman  year  elsewhere . 


G. 

GAS.     To  deceive  ;  to  cheat. 

Found  that  Fairspeech  only  wanted  to  **  gas  "me,  which  he  did 
pretty  effectually.  —  Sketches  of  Williams  College,  p.  72. 

GAUDY.  In  the  University  of  Oxford,  a  feast  or  festival.  The 
days  on  which  they  occur  are  called  gaudies  or  gaudy  days, 
"  Blount,  in  his  Glossographia,"  says  Archdeacon  Nares  in 
his  Glossary,  "  speaks  of  a  foolish  derivation  of  the  word 
from  a  Judge  Gaudy ^  said  to  have  been  the  institutor  of  such 
13 


146  COLLEGE  WORDS 

days.     But  such  days  were  held  in  all  times,  and  did  not 
want  a  judge  to  invent  them." 

Come, 
Let 's  have  one  other  gaudy  night :  call  to  me 
All  my  sad  captains  ;  fill  our  bowls  ;  once  more 
Let  's  mock  the  midnight  bell. 

Antony  and  Cleopatra,  Act.  III.  Sc.  IL 
A  foolish  utensil  of  state, 
Wich  like  old  plate  upon  a  gaudy  day^ 
's  brought  forth  to  make  a  show,  and  that  is  all. 

Goblins,  Old  Play,  X.  143. 
2.  An  entertainment ;  a  treat ;  a  spree. 
Cut  lectures,  go  to  chapel  as  little  as  possible,  dine  in  hall  sel- 
dom more  than  once  a  week,  give  Gaudies  and  spreads.  —  Gradvs  ad 
Cantab.,  p.  122. 

GENTLEMAN-COMMONER.  The  highest  class  of  com- 
moners at  Oxford  University.  Equivalent  to  a  Cambridge 
Fellow-  Commoner, 

GILL.  The  projecting  parts  of  a  standing  collar  are,  from  their 
situation,  sometimes  denominated  gills. 

But,  O,  what  rage  his  maddening  bosom  fills  ! 
Far  worse  than  dust-soiled  coat  are  ruined  "  gills,'' ^ 
Poem  before  the  Class  of  1828,  Harv,  Coll,  ,by  J.  C,  Richmond,  p.  6. 

GOBBLE.     At  Yale  College,  to  seize  ;  to  lay  hold  of ;  to  ap- 
propriate ;  nearly  the  same  as  to  collar^  q.  v. 
Alas  !  how  dearly  for  the  fun  they  paid. 
Whom  the  Proffs  gobbled,  and  the  Tutors  too. 

The  Gallinipper,  Dec,  1849. 
I  never  gobbled  one  poor  flat, 
To  cheer  me  with  his  soft  dark  eye,  &c. 

Yale  Tomahawk,  Nov.,  1849. 
I  went  and  performed,  and  got  through  the  burning, 
But  oh  !  and  alas  !  I  was  gobbled  returning. 

Yale  Banger,  Nov.,  1850. 
Upon  that  night,  in  the  broad  street,  was  I  by  one  of  the  brain- 
deficient  men  gobbled, —  Yale  Battery,  Feb.,  1850. 

2.  At  Cambridge,  Eng.,  this  word  is  used  in  the  phrase 
gohhling  Greeks  i.  e.  studying  or  speaking  that  tongue. 

Ambitious  to  '''gobble  "  his  Greek  in  the  haute  monde,  —  Alma 
Mater,  Vol.  I.  p.  79. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  147 

It  was  now  ten  o'clock,  and  up  stairs  we  therefore  flew  to  gohhle 
Greek  with  Professor .  —  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.  p.  127. 

You  may  have  seen  him,  traversing  the  grass-plots,  "  gobbling 
Greek  "  to  himself.  —  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.  p.  210. 

GONUS.     A  stupid  fellow. 

He  was  a  gonus ;  perhaps,  though,  you  don't  know  what  gonus 
means.  One  day  I  heard  a  Senior  call  a  fellow  a  gonus.  '*  A 
what?  "  said  I.  "A  great  gonus,"  repeated  he.  "  Gonus,^^ 
echoed  I,  '*  what  's  that  mean?"  '*  O,"  said  he,  "  you  're  a 
Freshman  and  don't  understand."  A  stupid  fellow,  a  dolt,  a  boot- 
jack, an  ignoramus,  is  called  here  a  gonus.  "  All  Freshmen," 
continued  he  gravely,  "  are  gonuses.^^  —  The  Dartmouth,  Vol.  IV. 
p.  116. 

If  the  disquisitionist  should  ever  reform  his  habits  and  turn  his 
really  brilliant  talents  to  some  good  account,  then  future  gonuses 
will  swear  by  his  name,  and  quote  him  in  their  daily  maledictions  of 
the  appointment  system,  —  Amherst  Indicator,  Vol.  I.  p.  76. 

The  word  goney,  with  the  same  meaning  is  often  used. 

"  How  the  goney  swallowed  it  all,  didn't  he?  "  said  Mr.  Slick, 
with  great  glee.  —  Slick  in  England,  Chap.  XXI. 

Some  on  'etn  were  fools  enough  to  believe  the  goney ;  that  's  a 
fact.  —  Ibid. 

GOODY.  At  Harvard  College,  a  woman  who  has  the  care  of 
the  students'  rooms.  The  word  seems  to  be  an  abbreviated 
form  of  the  word  goodwife.  It  has  long  been  in  use,  as  a 
low  term  of  civility  or  sport,  and  in  some  cases  with  the  sig- 
nification of  a  good  old  dame,  but  in  the  sense  above  given 
it  is  believed  to  be  peculiar  to  Harvard  College.  In  early 
times,  sweeper  was  in  use  instead  of  gnody^  and  even  now  at 
Yale  College  the  word  sweep  is  retained.  The  words  hed^ 
maker  at  Cambridge,  Eng.,  and  gyp  at  Oxford,  express  the 
same  idea. 

The  Rebelliad,  an  epic  poem,  opens  with  an  invocation  to 
the  Goody,  as  follows. 

Old  Goody  Muse  !  on  thee  I  call, 
Pro  more,  (as  do  poets  all,) 
To  string  thy  fiddle,  wax  thy  bow, 
And  scrape  a  ditty,  jig,  or  so. 


148  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Now  don't  wax  wrathy,  but  excuse 
My  calling  you  old  Goody  Muse  ; 
Because  ' '  Old  Goody  "  is  a  name 
Applied  to  every  college  dame. 
Aloft  in  pendent  dignity, 

Astride  her  magic  broom, 
And  wrapt  in  dazzling  majesty. 

See!  see!  the  Goody  cornel  —  p.  11. 

Go  on,  dear  Goody  !  and  recite 

The  direful  mishaps  of  the  fight.  —  Ibid.,  p.  20. 

The  Goodies  hearing,  cease  to  sweep. 

And  listen  ;  while  the  cook-maids  weep.  —  Ibid.,  p.  47. 

The  Goody  entered  with  her  broom. 

To  make  his  bed  and  sweep  his  room.  —  Ibid.,  p.  73. 

On  opening  the  papers  left  to  his  care,  he  found  a  request  that  his 
effects  might  be  bestowed  on  his  friend,  the  Goody,  who  had  been 
so  attentive  to  him  during  his  declining  hours.  —  Harvard  Register, 
1827-28,  p.  86. 

I  was  interrupted  by  a  low  knock  at  my  door,  followed  by  the 
entrance  of  our  old  Goody,  with  a  bundle  of  musty  papers  in  her 
hand  tied  round  with  a  soiled  red  ribbon.  —  Collegian,  1830,  p.  231. 

Were  there  any  Goodies  when  you  were  in  college,  father? 
Perhaps  you  did  not  call  them  by  that  name.  They  are  nice  old 
ladies  (not  so  very  nice,  either),  who  come  in  every  morning,  after 
we  have  been  to  prayers,  and  sweep  the  rooms,  and  make  the  beds, 
and  do  all  that  sort  of  work.  However  they  don't  much  Hke  their 
title,  I  find  ;  for  I  called  one,  the  other  day,  Mrs.  Goodie,  thinking 
it  was  her  real  name,  and  she  was  as  sulky  as  she  could  be.  —  Har- 
vardiana,  Vol.  111.  p.  76. 

Yet  these  half-emptied  bottles  shall  T  take,^ 
And,  having  purged  them  of  this  wicked  stuff, 
Make  a  small  present  unto  Goody  Bush. 

Ibid.,  Vol.  III.  p.  257. 

Reader!  wert  ever  beset  by  a  dan  1  ducked  by  the  Goody  from 
thy  own  window,  when  "  creeping  like  snail  unwillingly  "  to  morn- 
ing prayers?  —  Ibid.,  Vol.  IV.  p.  274. 

The  crowd  delighted 
Saw  them,  like  Goodies,  clothed  in  gowns  of  satin, 
Of  silk  or  cotton.—  Childe  Harvard,  p.  26,  1848. 


AND   CUSTOMS.        ^  149 

On  the  wall  hangs  a  Horse-shoe  I  found  in  the  street ; 
'T  is  the  shoe  that  to-day  sets  in  motion  my  feet ; 
Though  its  charms  are  aU  vanisjii5i^-t^S  Hiapj  a  year,   —  "- 
And  not  even  my  Goody  regards  it  with  fear. 

The  Horse-Shoe,  a  Poem,  by  J.  B.  Felton,  1849,  p.  4. 

A  very  clever  elegy  on  the  death  of  a  Goody,  who 

"  For  forty  years  or  more 

contrived  the  while 

No  little  dust  to  raise  " 

in  the  rooms  of  the  students  of  Harvard  College,  is  to  be 
found  in  Harvardiana,  Vol.  I.  p.  233. 

GORM.  From  gormandize.  At  Hamilton  College,  to  eat 
voraciously. 

GOT.  In  Princeton  College,  when  a  student  or  any  one  else 
has  been  cheated  or  taken  in,  it  is  customary  to  say,  he 
was  got, 

GOVERNMENT.  In  American  colleges,  the  general  gov- 
ernment is  usually  vested  in  a  corporation  or  a  board  of 
trustees,  whose  powers,  rights,  and  duties  are  established 
by  the  respective  charters  of  the  colleges  over  which  they 
are  placed.  The  immediate  government  of  the  undergrad- 
uates is  in  the  hands  of  the  president,  professors,  and  tutors, 
who  are  styled  the  Government^  or  the  College  Government^ 
and  more  frequently  the  Faculty^  or  the  College  Faculty. — 
Laws  of  TJniv,  at  Cam.^  Mass.,  1848,  pp.  7,  8.  Laws  of 
Yale  Coll.,  1837,  p.  5. 

Kvdi(TT€,  mighty  President !  !  ! 

KaXca/xev  vvv  the  Government.  —  RebelUad,  p.  27. 

Did  I  not  jaw  the  Government, 
For  cheating  more  than  ten  per  cent.  —  Ibid.,  p.  32. 
They  shall  receive  due  punishment 
From  Harvard  College  Government.  —  Ibid.,  p.  44. 
The  Government  of  College  met, 
And  Willard  ruled  the  stern  debate. 
MS,  Description  of  a  Government  Meeting  in  1787,  by  J.  Q,  Adams. 

GOWN.     A  long,  loose  upper  garment  or  robe,  worn  by  pro- 
fessional men,  as  divines,  lawyers,  students,  &c.,  who  are 
called  men  of  the  gown,  or  gownmen.    It  is  made  of  any  kind 
13* 


150  COLLEGE    WORDS 

of  cloth  worn  over  ordinary  clothes,  and  hangs  down  to  the 
ankles,  or  nearly  so.  —  Enryc. 

from  a  lettei  written  in  the  year  1766,  by  Mr.  Holyoke, 
then  President  of  Harvard  College,  it  would  appear  that 
gowns  were  first  worn  by  the  members  of  that  institution 
about  the  year  1760.  The  gown,  although  worn  by  the 
students  in  the  English  universities,  is  now  seldom  worn  in 
American  colleges  except  on  Commencement,  Exhibition, 
or  other  days  of  a  similar  public  character. 

The  students  are  permitted  to  wear  black  gowns,  in  which  they 
may  appear  on  all  public  occasions. — Laws Harv,  Coll.,  1798,  p. 37. 

Every  candidate  for  a  first  degree  shall  wear  a  black  dress  and 
the  usual  black  gown,  — Laws  Univ.  at  Cam.,  Mass,,  1848,  p.  20. 

The  performers  all  wore  black  goivns  with  sleeves  large  enough 
to  hold  me  in,  and  shouted  and  swung  their  arms,  till  they  looked 
like  so  many  Methodist  ministers  just  ordained.  —  Harvardiana, 
Vol.  III.  p.  111. 

Saw  them clothed  in  gowns  of  satin, 

Or  silk  or  cotton,  black  as  souls  benighted.  — 
All,  save  the  gowns,  was  startling,  splendid,  tragic. 
But  gowns  on  menshave  lost  their  wonted  magic, 

Childe  Harvard,  p.  26. 
The  door  swings  open  —  and  —  he  comes !  behold  him 

Wrapt  in  his  mantling  gown,  that  round  him  flows 
Waving,  as  Caesar's  toga  did  enfold  him.  —  Ibid.,  p.  36. 

2.  One  who  wears  a  gown. 

And  here,  I  think,  I  may  properly  introduce  a  very  singular  gal- 
lant, a  sort  of  mongrel  between  town  and  gown,  — I  mean  a  bib- 
liopola,  or  (as  the  vulgar  have  it)  a  bookseller.  —  The  Student,  Vol. 
II.  p.  226.     Oxf.  and  Cam. 

GOWNMAN,    )      One  whose  professional  habit  is  a  gown, 
GOWNSMAN.  ^  as  a  divine  or  lawyer,  and   particularly  a 
member  of  an  English  university.  —  Webster. 
The  gownman  learned.  —  Pope, 
For  if  townsmen  by  our  influence  are  so  enlightened,  what  must 
we  gownsmen  be  ourselves  1  —  The  Student,  Vol.  I.  p.  56.     Oxf. 
and  Cam. 

GRACE.     In  English  univershies,  an  act,  vote,  or  decree  of 
the  government  of  the  institution.  —  Webster, 


P! 


Primed  in  Poris  by  IiiJU.<!iod,  Ytthojloii  ^'  Co. 

Civis  Universitatis  Aberdonensis 


AND   CUSTOMS.  151 

GRADUATE.  To  honor  with  a  degree  or  diploma,  in  a  col- 
lege or  university ;  to  confer  a  degree  on ;  as,  to  graduate 
a  master  of  arts.  —  Wotton. 

Graduated  a  doctor,  and  dubb'd  a  knight.  —  Carew, 
Pickering,  in  his  Vocabulary,  says  of  the  word  graduate : 
"  Johnson  has  it  as  a  verb  active  only.  But  an  English 
friend  observes,  that '  the  active  sense  of  this  word  is  rare  in 
England.'  I  have  met  with  one  instance  in  an  English  pub- 
lication where  it  is  used  in  a  dialogue,  in  the  following  man- 
ner: 'You,  methinks,  are  graduated,^  See  a  review  in  the 
British  Critic,  Vol.  XXXIV.  p.  538." 

In  Mr.  Todd's  edition  of  Johnson's  Dictionary,  this  word 
is  given  as  a  verb  intransitive  also  :  "  To  take  an  academi- 
cal degree  ;  to  become  a  graduate  ;  as  he  graduated  at 
Oxford." 

In  America,  the  use  of  the  phrase  he  was  graduated^  in- 
stead of  he  graduated^  which  has  been  of  late  so  common, 
"  is  merely,"  says  Mr.  Bartlett  in  his  Dictionary  of  American- 
isms, "  a  return  to  former  practice,  the  verb  being  originally 
active  transitive." 

He  was  graduated  with  the  esteem  of  the  government,  and  the 
regard  of  his  contemporaries.  —  Works  of  R.  T.  Pained  p.  xxix. 

The  latter,  who  was  graduated  thirteen  years  after.  —  Peirce^s 
Hist,  Harv.  Univ.,  p.  219. 

In  this  perplexity  the  President  had  resolved  **to  yield  to  the 
torrent  and  graduate  Hartshorn." — (^uincy^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ., 
Vol.  I.  p.  398.     (The  quotation  was  written  in  1737.) 

In  May,  1749,  three  gentlemen  who  had  sons  about  to  be  grad- 
uated. —  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.  p.  92. 

Mr.  Peirce  was  born  in  September,  1778  ;  and,  after  being  grad- 
uated  at  Harvard  College,  with  the  highest  honors  of  his  class.  — 
Ibid.,  Vol,  II.  p.  390,  and  Chap.  XXXVII.  passim. 

He  was  graduated  in  1789  with  distinguished  honors,  at  the  age 
of  nineteen.  —  Mr.  Young^s  Discourse  on  the  Life  of  President 
Kirk  land. 

His  class  when  graduated,  in  1785,  consisted  of  thirty-two  per- 
sons.—  Dr.  Palfrey^ s  Discourse  on  the  Life  and  Character  of  Dr. 
Ware. 

2.  Intransitively.  To  receive  a  degree  from  a  college  or 
university. 


152  COLLEGE    WORDS 

He  graduated  at  Leyden  in  1691.  —  London  Monthly  Mag,,  Oct., 
1808,  p.  224. 
Wherever  Magnol  graduated,  —  Rees's  Cydopcedia,  Art.  Magnol. 

GRADUATE.  One  who  has  received  a  degree  in  a  college 
or  university,  or  from  some  professional  incorporated  soci- 
ety. —  Webster, 

GRADUATE  IN  A  SCHOOL.  A  degree  given  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia,  to  those  who  have  been  through  a  course 
of  study  less  than  is  required  for  the  degree  of  A.  B. 

GRADUATION.  The  act  of  conferring  or  receiving  academ- 
ical degrees.  —  Charter  of  Dartmouth  College, 

After  his  graduation  at  Yale  College,  in  1744,  he  continued  his 
studies  at  Harvard  University,  where  he  took  his  second  degree  in 
1747,  — Hist.  Sketch  of  Columbia  Coll,,  p.  122. 

Bachelors  were  called  Senior,  Middle,  or  Junior  Bachelors  accord- 
ing to  the  year  since  graduation  and  before  taking  the  degree  of 
Master. —  Woolsey^s  Hist,  Disc,  p.  122. 

GRATULATORY.  Expressing  gratulation  ;  congratulatory. 
At  Harvard  College,  while  Wadsworth  was  President,  in 
the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  it  was  customary  to  close 
the  exercises  of  Commencement  day  with  a  gratulatory  ora- 
tion^ pronounced  by  one  of  the  candidates  for  a  degree. 
This  has  now  given  place  to  what  is  generally  called  the 
valedictory  oration, 

GRAVEL  DAY.  The  fgllowing  account  of  this  day  is  given 
in  a  work  entitled  Sketches  of  Williams  College.  "  On  the 
second  Monday  of  the  first  term  in  the  year,  if  the  weather 
be  at  all  favorable,  it  has  been  customary  from  time  imme- 
morial to  hold  a  college  meeting,  and  petition  the  President 
for  '  Gravel  dayJ*  We  did  so  this  morning.  The  day  was 
granted,  and  recitations  being  dispensed  with,  the  students 
turned  out  en  masse  to  re-gravel  the  college  walks.  The 
gravel  which  we  obtain  here  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it 
packs  down  very  closely,  and  renders  the  walks  as  hard  and 
smooth  as  a  pavement.  The  Faculty  grant  this  day  for  the 
purpose  of  fostering  in  the  students  the  habit  of  physical 
labor  and  exercise,  so  essential  to  vigorous  mental  exertion." 


AND    CUSTOMS.  153 

GREAT  GO.  In  the  English  universities  the  final  and  most 
important  examination  is  called  the  great  go^  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the  little  go^  an  examination  about  the  middle  of 
the  course. 

In  my  way  back  I  stepped  into  the  Great  Go  schools.  —  The 
Etonian,  Vol.  II.  p.  287. 

Read  through  the  whole  five  volumes  folio,  Latin,  previous  to 
going  up  for  his  Great  Go.  —  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.  p.  381. 

GRIND.  An  exaction  ;  an  oppressive  action.  Students  speak 
of  a  very  long  lesson  which  they  are  required  to  learn, 
or  of  any  thing  which  it  is  very  unpleasant  or  difficult  to 
perform,  as  a  grind.  This  meaning  is  derived  from  the 
verb  to  grinds  in  the  sense  of  to  harass,  to  afflict ;  as,  to 
grind  the  faces  of  the  poor  (Isaiah  iii.  15). 
I  must  say  't  is  a  grind,  though —  (perchance  I  spoke  too  loud). 
Poem  before  ladma,  1850,  p.  12. 

GROATS.  At  the  English  universities,  "  nine  groats^^'^  says 
Grose,  in  his  Dictionary  of  the  Vulgar  Tongue,  "  are  depos- 
ited in  the  hands  of  an  academic  officer  by  every  person 
standing  for  a  degree,  which,  if  the  depositor  obtains  with 
honor,  are  returned  to  him." 

To  save  his  groats ;  to  come  off  handsomely.  —  Gradus 
ad  Cantah. 

GROUP.  A  crowd  or  throng  ;  a  number  collected  without 
any  regular  form  or  arrangement.  At  Harvard  College, 
students  are  not  allowed  to  assemble  in  groups,  as  is  seen 
by  the  following  extract  from  the  laws.  Three  persons 
together  are  considered  as  a  group. 

Collecting  in  groups  round  the  doors  of  the  College  buildings,  or 
in  the  yard,  shall  be  considered  a  violation  of  decorum.  —  Laws 
Univ.  at  Cam.,  Mass.,  1848,  Suppl.,  p.  4. 

GROUPING.     Collecting  together. 

It  will  surely  be  incomprehensible  to  most  students  how  so  large 
a  number  as  six  could  be  suffered  with  impunity  to  horde  them- 
selves together  within  the  limits  of  the  college  yard.  In  those 
days  the  very  learned  laws  about  grouping  were  not  in  existence. 
A  collection  of  two  was  not  then  considered  a  sure  prognostic  of 


154  COLLEGE    WORDS 

rebellion,  and  spied  out  vigilantly  by  tutoric  eyes.  A  group  of 
three  was  not  reckoned  a  gross  outrage  of  the  college  peace,  and 
punished  severely  by  the  subtraction  of  some  dozens  from  the 
numerical  rank  of  the  unfortunate  youth  engaged  in  so  high  a  mis- 
demeanor. A  congregation  of  four  was  not  esteemed  an  open, 
avowed  contempt  of  the  laws  of  decency  and  propriety,  prophesy- 
ing utter  combustion,  desolation,  and  destruction  to  all  buildings 
and  trees  in  the  neighborhood  ;  and  lastly,  a  multitude  of  five, 
though  watched  with  a  little  jealousy,  was  not  called  an  intoler- 
able, unparalleled  violation  of  every  thing  approaching  the  name  of 
order,  absolute,  downright  shamelessness,  worthy  capital  mark- 
punishment,  alias  the  loss  of  87|  digits  !  —  Harvardiana,  Vol.  III. 
p.  314. 

The  above  passage  and  the  following  are  both  evidently 
of  a  satirical  nature. 
And  often  grouping  on  the  chains,  he  hums  his  own  sweet  verse, 

Till  Tutor  ,  coming  up,  commands  him  to  disperse ! 

Poem  before  Y.  H.,  1849,  p.  14. 

GRUB.  A  hard  student.  Used  at  Williams  College,  and 
synonymous  with  Dig  at  other  colleges.  A  correspondent 
says,  writing  from  Williams :  "  Our  real  delvers,  midnight 
students,  are  familiarly  called  Grubs,  This  is  a  very  ex- 
pressive name." 

A  man  must  not  be  ashamed  to  be  called  a  grub  in  college,  if  he 
would  shine  in  the  world.  —  Sketches  of  Williams  College,  p.  76. 

GRUB.  To  study  hard  ;  to  be  what  is  denominated  a  gruh, 
or  hard  student.  "  The  primary  sense,"  says  Dr.  Webster, 
"  is  probably  to  rub,  to  rake,  scrape,  or  scratch,  as  wild  ani- 
mals dig  by  scratching." 

I  can  grub  out  a  lesson  in  Latin  or  mathematics  as  well  as  the 
best  of  them.  —  Amherst  Indicator,  Vol.  I.  p.  223. 

GUARDING.  "  The  custom  of  guarding  Freshmen,"  says 
a  correspondent  from  Dartmouth  College,  "  is  comparatively 
a  late  one.  Persons  masked  would  go  into  another's  room 
at  night,  and  oblige  him  to  do  any  thing  they  commanded 
him,  as  to  get  under  his  bed,  sit  with  his  feet  in  a  pail  of 
'Water,"  &c. 

GULFING.     In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  "  those 


AND   CUSTOMS.  155 

candidates  for  B.  A.  who,  but  for  sickness  or  some  other 
sufficient  cause,  might  have  obtained  an  honor,  have  their 
degree  given  them  without  examination,  and  thus  avoid  hav- 
ing their  names  inserted  in  the  lists.  This  is  called  Chdf' 
ingy  A  degree  taken  in  this  manner  is  called  "  an  iEgro- 
tat  Degree." — Alma  Mater,  Vol.  II.  pp.  60,  105. 

I  discovered  that  my  name  was  nowhere  to  be  found,  —  that  I 
was  Gulfed.  —  Ibid,,  Vol.  II.  p.  97. 

GUM.     A  trick  ;  a  deception.     In  use  at  Dartmouth  College. 
Gum  is  another  word  they  have  here.     It  means  something  like 
chaw.     To  say,  *^  It  's  all  a  ^Mm,"  or  "  a  regular  chaw,"  is  the 
same  thing. —  The  Dartmouth,  Vol.  IV.  p.  117. 

The  verb  to  gum  is  also  in  very  common  use ;  neither  is 
confined  to  college. 

He  was  speaking  of  the  "  moon  hoax  "  which  *'  gummed  "  so 
many  learned  philosophers.  —  Yale  Lit.  Mag.,  Yo\.  XIV.  p.  189. 

GUMMATION.     A  trick  ;  raillery. 

Our  reception  to  college  ground  was  by  no  means  the  most  hos- 
pitable, considering  our  unacquaintance  with  the  manners  of  the 
place,  for,  as  poor  '*  Fresh,"  we  soon  found  ourselves  subject  to  all 
manner  of  sly  tricks  and  "  ^Mmma^ions  "  from  our  predecessors, 
the  Sophs.  — A  Tour  through  College,  Boston,  1832,  p.  13. 

GYP.  A  cant  term  for  a  servant  at  Cambridge,  England,  as 
scout  is  used  at  Oxford.  Said  to  be  a  sportive  application 
of  yiJ-v//",  a  vulture.  —  Smart, 

The  word  Gyp  very  properly  characterizes  them.  —  Gradus  ad 
Cantab.,  p.  56. 

It  is  sometimes  spelled  Jip,  though  probably  by  mistake. 
My  Jip  brought  one  in  this  morning  ;  faith !  and  told  me  I  was 
focussed.  ^Gent.  Mag.,  1794,  p.  1085. 


156  COLLEGE    WORDS 


H. 


HALL.  A  college  or  large  edifice  belonging  to  a  collegiate 
institution.  —  Webster. 

2.  A  collegiate  body  in  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge.  In  the  former  institution  a  hall  differs  from  a 
college,  in  that  halls  are  not  incorporated  ;  consequently 
whatever  estate  or  other  property  they  possess  are  held  in 
trust  by  the  University.  In  the  latter,  colleges  and  halls 
are  synonymous.  —  Cam.  and  Oxf.  Calendars. 

"  In  Cambridge,"  says  the  author  of  the  Collegian's 
Guide,  "  the  halls  stand  on  the  same  footing  as  the  col- 
leges, but  at  Oxford  they  did  not,  in  my  time,  hold  by  any 
means  so  high  a  place  in  general  estimation.  Certainly 
those  halls  which  admit  the  outcasts  of  other  colleges,  and 
of  those  alone  I  am  now  speaking,  used  to  be  precisely  what 
one  would  expect  to  find  them  ;  indeed,  I  had  rather  that  a 
son  of  mine  should  forego  a  university  education  altogether, 
than  that  he  should  have  so  sorry  a  counterfeit  of  academic 
advantages  as  one  of  these  halls  affords."  —  p.  172. 

HARRY  SOPHS,  or  Henry  Sophisters;  in  reality  Hari- 
sophs,  a  corruption  of  Erisophs  (epicrocpos^  valde  eruditus). 
At  Cambridge,  England,  students  who  have  kept  all  the 
terms  required  for  a  law  act,  and  hence  are  ranked  as  Bach- 
elors of  Law  by  courtesy.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab. 
See,  also,  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1795,  p.  818. 

HARVARD  WASHINGTON  CORPS.  From  a  memoran- 
dum on  a  fly  leaf  of  an  old  Triennial  Catalogue,  it  would 
appear  that  a  military  company  was  first  established  among 
the  students  of  Harvard  College  about  the  year  1769,  and 
that  its  first  captain  was  Mr.  William  Wetmore,  a  graduate 
of  the  Class  of  1770.  The  motto  which  it  then  assumed, 
and  continued  to  bear  through  every  period  of  its  existence, 
was,  "  Tam  Marti  quam  Mercurio."  It  was  called  at  that 
time  the  Marti  Mercurian  Band.  The  prescribed  uniform 
was  a  blue  coat,  the   skirts  turned   with  white,  nankeen 


AND    CUSTOMS.  157 

breeches,  white  stockings,  top-boots,  and  a  cocked  hat. 
This  association  continued  for  nearly  twenty  years  from  the 
time  of  its  organization,  but  the  chivalrous  spirit  which  had 
called  it  into  existence  seems  at  the  end  of  that  time  to  have 
faded  away.  The  last  captain,  it  is  believed,  was  Mr.  Solo- 
mon Vose,  a  graduate  of  the  class  of  1787. 

Under  the  auspices  of  Governor  Gerry,  in  December  of 
the  year  1811,  it  was  revived,  and  through  his  influence 
received  a  new  loan  of  arms  from  the  State,  taking  at  the 
same  time  the  name  of  the  Harvard  Washington  Corps.  In 
1812,  Mr.  George  Thacher  was  appointed  its  commander. 
The  members  of  the  company  wore  a  blue  coat,  white  vest^ 
white  pantaloons,  white  gaiters,  a  common  black  hat,  and 
around  the  waist  a  white  belt,  which  was  always  kept  very 
neat,  and  to  which  were  attached  a  bayonet  and  cartridge- 
box.  The  officers  wore  the  same  dress,  with  the  exceptions 
of  a  sash  instead  of  the  belt,  and  a  chapeau  in  place  of  the  hat. 
Soon  after  this  reorganization,  in  the  fall  of  1812,  a  banner, 
with  the  arms  of  the  College  on  one  side  and  the  arms  of 
the  State  on  the  other,  was  presented  by  the  beautiful  Miss 
Mellen,  daughter  of  Judge  Mellen  of  Cambridge,  in  the 
name  of  the  ladies  of  that  place.  The  presentation  took 
place  before  the  door  of  her  father's  house.  Appropriate 
addresses  were  made,  both  by  the  fair  donor  and  the  cap- 
tain of  the  company.  Mr.  Frisbie,  a  Professor  in  the  Col- 
lege, who  was  at  that  time  engaged  to  Miss  Mellen,  whomi 
he  afterwards  married,  recited  on  the  occasion  the  following 
verses  impromptu,  which  were  received  with  great  eclat, 
**  The  standard  's  victory's  leading  star, 
'T  is  danger  to  forsake  it ; 
How  altered  are  the  scenes  of  war, 

They  're  vanquished  now  who  take  it." 

A  writer  in  the  Harvardiana,  1836,  referring  to  this  banner,, 
says  :  "  The  gilded  banner  now  moulders  away  in  inglorious 
quiet,  in  the  dusty  retirement  of  a  Senior  Sophister's  study. 
What  a  desecration  for  that  '  flag  by  angel-hands  to  valor 
given ' ! "  Within  the  last  two  years  it  has  wholly  disap- 
peared from  its  accustomed  resting-place.  Though  departed,. 
14 


159  ^  COLLEGE    WORDS 

its  memory  will  be  ever  dear  to  those  who  saw  it  in  its  bet- 
ter days,  and  under  its  shadow  enjoyed  many  of  the  proudest 
moments  of  college  life. 

At  its  second  organization,  the  company  was  one  of  the 
finest  and  best  drilled  in  the  State.  The  members  were 
from  the  Senior  and  Junior  Classes.  The  armory  was  in  the 
fifth  story  of  Hollis  Flail.  The  regular  time  for  exercise  was 
after  the  evening  commons.  The  drum  would  often  beat  be- 
fore the  meal  was  finished,  and  the  students  could  then  be 
seen  rushing  forth  with  the  half-eaten  biscuit,  and  at  the 
same  time  buckling  on  their  armor  for  the  accustomed  drill. 
They  usually  paraded  on  exhibition  days,  when  the  large 
concourse  of  people  afforded  an  excellent  opportunity  for 
showing  off  their  skill  in  military  tactics  and  manoeuvring. 
On  the  arrival  of  the  news  of  the  peace  of  1815,  it  appears, 
from  an  interleaved  almanac,  that  "  the  H.  W.  Corps  pa- 
raded and  fired  a  salute  ;  Mr.  Porter  treated  the  company." 
Again,  on  the  12th  of  May,  same  year,  "  H.  W.  Corps  pa- 
raded in  Charlestown,  saluted  Com.  Bainbridge,  and  returned 
by  the  way  of  Boston."  The  captain  for  that  year,  Mr.  W. 
H.  Moulton,  dying,  on  the  6th  of  July,  at  hve  o'clock,  P.  M., 
"  the  class,"  says  the  same  authority,  "  attended  the  funeral 
of  Br.  Moulton  in  Boston.  The  H.  VV.  Corps  attended  in 
uniform,  without  arms,  the  ceremony  of  entombing  their  late 
Captain." 

In  the  year  1825,  it  received  a  third  loan  of  arms,  and 
was  again  reorganized,  admitting  the  members  of  all  the 
classes  to  its  ranks.  From  this  period  until  the  year  1834, 
very  great  interest  was  manifested  in  it,  but  a  rebellion  hav- 
ing broken  out  at  that  time  among  the  students,  and  the  guns 
of  the  company  having  been  considerably  damaged  by  being 
thrown  from  the  windows  of  the  armory,  which  was  then  in 
University  Hall,  the  company  was  disbanded,  and  the  arms 
were  returned  to  the  State. 

The  feelings  with  which  it  was  regarded  by  the  stude  nts 
generally  cannot  be  better  shown  than  by  quoting  from 
some  of  the  publications  in  which  reference  is  made  to  it. 
"Many  are  the  grave  discussions  and  entry  caucuses,"  says 


AND    CUSTOMS.  l^ 

a  writer  in  the  Harvard  Register,  published  in  1828,  "  to  de- 
termine what  favored  few  are  to  be  graced  with  the  sash  and 
epaulets,  and  march  as  leaders  in  the  martial  band.  Whilst 
these  important  canvassings  are  going  on,  it  behooves  even 
the  humblest  and  meekest  to  beware  how  he  buttons  his  coat, 
or  stiffens  himself  to  a  perpendicular,  lest  he  be  more  than 
suspected  of  aspiring  to  some  military  capacity.  But  the 
Harvard  Washington  Corps  must  not  be  passed  over  with- 
out further  notice.  Who  can  tell  what  eagerness  fills  its 
ranks  on  an  Exhibition  day  }  with  what  spirit  and  bound- 
ing step  the  glorious  phalanx  wheels  into  the  College  yard  ? 
with  what  exultation  they  mark  their  banner,  as  it  comes 
floating  on  the  breeze  from  Holworthy  ?  And  ah !  who 
cannot  tell  how  this  spirit  expires,  —  this  exultation  goes  out, 
when  the  clerk  calls  again  and  again  for  the  assessments." 
—  p.  378. 

A  college  poet  has  thus  immortalized  this  distinguished 
band : — 

**  But  see  where  yonder  light-armed  ranks  advance !  — 

Their  colors  gleaming  in  the  noonday  glance, — 

Their  steps  symphonious  with  the  drum's  deep  notes, 

While  high  the  buoyant,  breeze-borne  banner  floats  ! 

O,  let  not  allied  hosts  yon  band  deride  ! 

'T  is  Harvard  Corps,  our  bulwark  and  our  pride  ! 

Mark,  how  hke  one  great  whole,  instinct  with  hfe. 

They  seem  to  woo  the  dangers  of  the  strife  ! 

Who  would  not  brave  the  heat,  the  dust,  the  rain. 

To  march  the  leader  of  that  valiant  train  ?  ' ' 

Harvard  Register,  p.  235. 

Another  has  sung  their  requiem  in  the  following  strain  :  — 
*'  That  martial  band,  'neath  waving  stripes  and  stars 
Inscribed  alike  to  Mercury  and  Mars, 
Those  gallant  warriors  in  their  dread  array, 
Who  shook  these  halls,  —  O,  where,  alas  !  are  they  1 
Gone  !  gone  !  and  never  to  our  ears  shall  come 
The  sounds  of  fife  and  spirit-stirring  drum  ; 
That  war-worn  banner  slumbers  in  the  dust, 
Those  bristling  arms  are  dim  with  gathering  rust ; 
That  crested  helm,  —  that  glittering  sword,  —  that  plume, 
Are  laid  to  rest  in  reckless  faction's  tomb." 

Winslow^s  Class  Poem^  1835. 


160  COLLEGE   WORDS 

HAULED  UP.  In  many  colleges,  one  brought  up  before  the 
Faculty  is  said  to  be  hauled  up. 

HAZE.  To  trouble  ;  to  harass ;  to  disturb.  This  word  is 
used  at  Harvard  College,  to  express  the  treatment  which 
Freshmen  sometimes  receive  from  the  higher  classes,  and 
especially  from  the  Sophomores.  It  is  used  among  sailors 
with  the  meanings,  to  urge^  to  drive^  to  harass^  especially 
with  labor.  In  his  Dictionary  of  Americanisms,  Mr.  Bartlett 
says,  "  To  haze  round,  is  to  go  rioting  about." 

Be  ready  in  fine  to  cut,  to  drink,  to  smoke,  to  swear,  to  haze,  to 
dead,  to  spree,  — in  one  word,  to  be  a  Sophomore.  —  Oration  before 
H.  L.  of  1.  O.  of  O.  R,  1848,  p.  11. 

To  him  no  orchard  is  unknown,  —  no  grape-vine  unappraised. 
No  farmer's  hen-roost  yet  unrobbed,  —  no  Freshman  yet  unhazed  ! 

Poem  before  Y,  H.,  1849,  p.  9. 
'T  is  the  Sophomores  rushing  the  Freshmen  to  haze. 

Poem  before  ladma,  1850,  p.  22 
Never  again 
Leave  unbolted  your  door  when  to  rest  you  retire, 
And,  unhazed  and  unmartyred,  you  proudly  may  scorn 
Those  foes  to  all  Freshmen  who  'gainst  thee  conspire. 

Mid.,  p.  23. 

The  various  means  which  are  made  use  of  in  hazing  the 
Freshmen  are  enumerated  in  part  below.  In  the  first  pas- 
sage, a  Sophomore  speaks  in  soliloquy. 

I  am  a  man. 
Have  human  feelings,  though  mistaken  Fresh 
Affirmed  I  was  a  savage  or  a  brute, 
When  I  did  dash  cold  water  in  their  necks, 
Discharged  green  squashes  through  their  window  panes. 
And  stript  their  beds  of  soft,  luxurious  sheets. 
Placing  instead  harsh  briers  and  rough  sticks. 
So  that  their  sluggish  bodies  might  not  sleep, 
Unroused  by  morning  bell ;  or  when  perforce. 
From  leaden  syringe,  engine  of  fierce  might, 
I  drave  black  ink  upon  their  rufile  shirts. 
Or  drenched  with  showers  of  melancholy  hue, 
The  new-fledged  dickey  peering  o'er  the  stock. 
Fit  emblem  of  a  young  ambitious  mind  ! 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  254. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  161 

A  Freshman  thus  writes  on  the  subject :  — 
i  The  Sophs  did  nothing  all  the  first  fortnight  but  torment  the 
Fresh,  as  they  call  us.  They  would  come  to  our  rooms  with  masks 
on,  and  frighten  us  dreadfully  ;  and  sometimes  squirt  water  through 
our  key-holes,  or  throw  a  whole  pailful  on  to  one  of  us  from  the 
upper  windows.  — Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  76. 

HEADS  OF  HOUSES.  The  masters  of  the  different  col- 
leges  in  the  English  universities  are  so  called. 

HEADS  OUT.    At  Princeton  College,  the  cry  when  any  thing 
occurs  in  the  Campus.     Used,  also,  to  give  the  alarm  when 
a  professor  or  tutor  is  about  to  interrupt  a  spree. 
See  Campus. 

HIGH  GO.     A  merry  frolic,  usually  with  drinking. 

Songs  of  scholars  in  revelling  roundelays, 

Belched  out  with  hickups  at  bacchanal  Go, 

Bellowed,  till  heaven's  high  concave  rebound  the  lays, 

Are  all  for  college  carousals  too  low. 

Of  dulness  quite  tired,  with  merriment  fired, 

And  fully  inspired  with  amity's  glow. 

With  hate-drowning  wine,  boys,  and  punch  all  divine,  boys, 

The  Juniors  combine,  boys,  in  friendly  High  Go. 

Classology,  hy  William  Biglaw, 

This  word  is  now  seldom  used  ;  the  words  High  and  Go 
are,  however,  often  used  separately  with  the  same  meaning  as 
the  compound.  The  phrase  to  get  high^  i.  e.  ti^become  in- 
toxicated, is  allied  with  the  above  expression. 

Or  men  "  get  high  "  by  drinking  abstract  toddies? 

Childe  Harvard,  p.  71. 

HIGH  STEWARD.  In  the  English  universities,  an  officer 
who  has  special  power  to  hear  and  determine  capital  causes, 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  land  and  the  privileges  of  the 
University,  whenever  a  scholar  is  the  party  offending.  He 
also  holds  the  university  court-leet^  according  to  the  estab- 
lished charter  and  custom.  —  Oxf.  and  Cam.  Cals. 

HISS.     To  condemn  by  hissing. 

This  is  a  favorite   method,  especially  among   students, 
14* 


162  COLLEGE    WORDS 

of  expressing  their  disapprobation  of  any  person  or  meas- 
ure. 

I  *11  tell  you  what ;  your  crime  is  this, 
That,  Touchy,  you  did  scrape  and  hiss. 

Rebelliady  p.  45. 

Who  will  bully,  scrape,  and  hiss  ! 
Who,  I  say,  will  do  all  this  ! 

Let  him  follow  me.  —  Ibid.,  p.  53. 

HOAXING.  At  Princeton  College,  inducing  new-comers  to 
join  the  secret  societies  is  called  hoaxing, 

HOBBY.     A  translation.     Hobbies  are  used  by  some  students 

in  translating  Latin,  Greek,  and  other  languages,  who  from 

this  reason  are  said  to  ride,  in  contradistinction  to  others 

who  learn  their  lessons  by  study,  who  are  said  to  dig  or  grub. 

See  Pony. 

HOE  IN.  At  Hamilton  College,  to  strive  vigorously  ;  a  met- 
aphorical meaning,  taken  from  labor  with  the  hoe. 

• 

HOIST.  It  was  formerly  customary  at  Harvard  College, 
when  the  Freshmen  were  used  as  servants,  to  report  them 
to  the  Tutor,  if  they  refused  to  go  when  sent  on  an  errand  ; 
this  complaint  was  called  a  hoistings  and  the  delinquent  was 
said  to  be  hoisted, 

HOLD  INS.  At  Bowdoin  College,  "  near  the  commence- 
ment of  each  year,"  says  a  correspondent,  "  the  Sophs  are 
wont,  on  some  particular  evening,  to  attempt  to  '  hold  in '  the 
Freshmen  when  coming  out  of  prayers,  generally  producing 
quite  a  skirmish." 

HOLLIS.  Mr.  Thomas  Hollis  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  to  whom, 
with  many  others  of  the  same  name.  Harvard  College  is  so 
much  indebted,  among  other  presents  to  its  library,  gave 
"  sixty-four  volumes  of  valuable  books,  curiously  bound." 
To  these  reference  is  made  in  the  following  extract  from 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  September,  1781.  "  Mr. 
Hollis  employed  Mr.  Pingo  to  cut  a  number  of  emblematical 
devices,  such  as  the  caduceus  of  Mercury,  the  wand  of 
jEsculapius,  the  owl,  the  cap   of  liberty,  &c.  ;  and  these 


AND    CUSTOMS.  163 

devices  were  to  adorn  the  backs  and  sometimes  the  sides 
of  books.  When  patriotism  animated  a  work,  instead  of 
unmeaning  ornaments  on  the  binding,  he  adorned  it  with 
caps  of  liberty.  When  wisdom  filled  the  page,  the  owl's 
majestic  gravity  bespoke  its  contents.  The  caducous  point- 
ed out  the  works  of  eloquence,  and  the  wand  of  -^sculapius 
was  a  signal  of  good  medicine.  The  different  emblems 
were  used  on  the  same  book,  when  possessed  of  different 
merits,  and  to  express  his  disapprobation  of  the  whole  or 
parts  of  any  work,  the  figure  or  figures  were  reversed. 
Thus  each  cover  exhibited  a  critique  on  the  book,  and  was 
a  proof  that  they  were  not  kept  for  show,  as  he  must  read 
before  he  could  judge.  Read  this,  ye  admirers  of  gilded 
books,  and  imitate." 

HONORS.  In  American  colleges,  the  principal  honors  are 
appointments  as  speakers  at  Exhibitions  and  Commence- 
ments. These  are  given  for  excellence  in  scholarship. 
The  appointments  for  Exhibitions  are  different  in  different 
colleges.  Those  of  Commencement  do  not  vary  so  much. 
The  following  is  a  list  of  the  appointments  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege, in  the  order  in  which  they  are  usually  assigned  :  Val- 
edictory Oration,  called  also  the  English  Oration,  Salutatory 
in  Latin,  English  Orations,  Dissertations,  Disquisitions,  and 
Essays.  The  salutatorian  is  not  always  the  second  scholar 
in  the  class,  but  must  be  the  best,  or,  in  case  this  distinction 
is  enjoyed  by  the  valedictorian,  the  second-best  Latin  schol- 
ar. Latin  or  Greek  poems  or  orations  or  English  poems 
sometimes  form  a  part  of  the  exercises,  and  may  be  as- 
signed, as  are  the  other  appointments,  to  persons  in  the  first 
part  of  the  class.  At  Yale  College  the  order  is  as  follows  : 
Valedictory  Oration,  Salutatory  in  Latin,  Philosophical  Ora- 
tions, Orations,  Dissertations,  Disputations,  and  Colloquies. 
A  person  who  receives  the  appointment  of  a  Colloquy  can 
either  write  or  speak  in  a  colloquy,  or  write  a  poem.  Any 
other  appointee  can  also  write  a  poem.  Other  colleges 
usually  adopt  one  or  the  other  of  these  arrangements,  or 
combine  the  two. 


164  COLLEGE    WORDS 

HOOD.  An  ornamental  fold  that  hangs  down  the  back  of  a 
graduate,  to  mark  his  degree.  —  Johnson, 

My  head  with  ample  square-cap  crown, 
And  deck  with  hood  my  shoulders. 

The  Student,  Vol.  I.  p.  349,  Oxf.  and  Cam. 

HORN-BLOWING.  At  Princeton  College,  the  students  often 
provide  themselves  at  night  with  horns,  bugles,  &c.,  climb 
the  trees  in  the  Campus,  and  set  up  a  blowing  which  is  con- 
tinued as  long  as  prudence  and  safety  allow. 

HOUSE.  A  college.  The  word  was  formerly  used  with  this 
signification  in  Harvard  and  Yale  Colleges. 

If  any  scholar  shall  transgress  any  of  the  laws  of  God,  or  the 
House,  he  shall  be  liable,  &c.  —  Quincy''s  Hist,  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol. 
I.  p.  517. 

If  detriment  come  by  any  out  of  the  society,  then  those  officers 
[the  butler  and  cook]  themselves  shall  be  responsible  to  the  House, 
-^Ibid.,  Vol.  I.  p.  583. 

A  member  of  the  college  was  also  called  a  Member  of 
the  House. 

The  steward  is  to  see  that  one  third  part  be  reserved  of  all  the 
payments  to  him  by  the  members  of  the  House  quarterly  made.  — 
Quincy^s  Hist.  Harv,  Univ.,  Vol.  I.  p.  582. 

A  College  officer  was  called  an  Officer  of  the  House. 
The  steward  shall  be  bound  to  give  an  account  of  the  necessary 
disbursements  which  have  been  issued  out  to  the  steward  himself, 
butler,  cook,  or  any  other  ojfficer  of  the  House, —  Quincy^s  Hist. 
Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  I.  p.  582. 

Neither  shall  the  butler  or  cook  suffer  any  scholar  or  scholars 
whatever,  except  the  Fellows,  Masters  of  Art,  Fellow-commoners, 
or  officers  of  the  House,  to  come  into  the  butteries,  &c.  —  Ibid.,  Vol. 
I.  p.  584. 

Before  the  year  1708,  the  term  Fellows  of  the  House  was 
applied,  at  Harvard  College,  both  to  the  members  of  the 
Corporation,  and  to  the  instructors  who  did  not  belong  to 
the  Corporation.  The  equivocal  meaning  of  this  title  was 
noticed  by  President  Leverett,  for,  in  his  duplicate  record  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  Corporation  and  the  Overseers,  he 
designates  certain  persons  to  whom  he  refers  as  "  Fellows 


AND    CUSTOMS.  165 

of  the  House,  i.  e.  of  the  Corporation."  Soon  after  this,  an 
attempt  was  made  to  distinguish  between  these  two  classes 
of  Fellows,  and  in  1711  the  distinction  was  settled,  when 
one  Whiting,  "  who  had  been  for  several  years  known  as 
Tutor  and  '  Fellow  of  the  House,'  but  had  never  in  conse- 
quence been  deemed  or  pretended  to  be  a  member  of  the 
Corporation,  was  admitted  to  a  seat  in  that  board."  — 
Quincy^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.^  Vol.  I.  pp.  278,  279. 

At  Yale  College,  those  are  called  Scholars  of  the  House 
who,  by  superiority  in  scholarship,  become  entitled  to  receive 
the  income  arising  from  certain  foundations  established  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  learning  and  literature.  In  some 
cases  the  recipient  is  required  to  remain  at  New  Haven  for 
a  specified  time,  and  pursue  •  a  course  of  study  under  the 
direction  of  the  Faculty  of  the  College.  —  Sketches  of  Yale 
Coll.,  p.  86.     Laws  of  Yale  Coll, 

2.  "  The  scholar  of  the  house,^"*  says  President  Woolsey, 
in  his  Historical  Discourse,  —  ^^  scholaris  cBdilitus  of  the 
Latin  laws,  —  before  the  institutit)n  of  Berkeley's  scholar- 
ships which  had  the  same  title,  was  a  kind  of  sedile  appointed 
by  the  President  and  Tutors  to  inspect  the  public  buildings, 
and  answered  in  a  degree  to  the  Inspector  known  to  our 
present  laws  and  practice.  He  was  not  to  leave  town  until 
the  Friday  after  Commencement,  because  in  that  week 
more  than  usual  damage  was  done  to  the  buildings."  — 
p.  43. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.  At  Union  College, 
the  members  of  the  Junior  Class  compose  what  is  called  the 
House  of  Representatives^  a  body  organized  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  national  House,  for  the  purpose  of  becoming 
acquainted  with  the  forms  and  manner  of  legislation.  The 
following  account  has  been  funished  by  a  member  of  that 
College. 

"  At  the  end  of  the  third  term.  Sophomore  year,  when 
the  members  of  that  class  are  looking  forward  to  the  honors 
awaiting  them,  comes  off  the  initiation  to  the  House.  The 
Friday  of  the  tenth  week  is  the  day  usually  selected  for  the 
occasion.     On  the  afternoon  of  that  day  the  Sophomores 


166  COLLEGE    WORDS 

assemble  in  the  Junior  recitation -room,  and,  after  organizing 
themselves  by  the  appointment  of  a  chairman,  are  waited 
upon  by  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
Junior  Class,  who  announce  that  they  are  ready  to  proceed 
with  the  initiation,  and  occasionally  dilate  upon  the  impor- 
tance and  responsibility  of  the  future  position  of  the  Sopho- 
mores. 

"The  invitation  thus  given  is  accepted,  and  the  class, 
headed  by  the  committee,  proceeds  to  the  Representatives' 
Hall.  On  their  arrival,  the  members  of  the  House  retire, 
and  the  incoming  members,  under  the  direction  of  the  com- 
mittee, arrange  themselves  around  the  platform  of  the 
Speaker,  all  in  the  room  at  the  same  time  rising  in  their 
seats.  The  Speaker  of  the  House  now  addresses  the  Soph- 
omores, announcing  to  them  their  election  to  the  high  posi- 
tion of  Representatives,  and  exhorting  them  to  discharge 
well  all  their  duties  to  their  constituents  and  their  common 
country.  He  closes,  by  stating  it  to  be  their  first  business 
to  elect  the  officers  of  the  House. 

"  The  election  of  Speaker,  Vice-Speaker,  Clerk,  and 
Treasurer  by  ballot  then  follows,  two  tellers  being  appointed 
by  the  Chair.  The  Speaker  is  elected  for  one  year,  and 
must  be  one  of  the  Faculty ;  the  other  officers  hold  only 
during  the  ensuing  term.  The  Speaker,  however,  is  never 
expected  to  be  present  at  the  meetings  of  the  House,  with 
the  exception  of  that  at  the  beginning  of  each  term  session, 
so  that  the  whole  duty  of  presiding  falls  on  the  Vice-Speaker. 
This  is  the  only  meeting  of  the  new  House  during  that  term. 

"  On  the  second  Friday  afternoon  of  the  fall  term,  the 
Speaker  usually  delivers  an  inaugural  address,  and  soon  after 
leaves  the  chair  to  the  Vice-Speaker,  who  then  announces 
the  representation  from  the  different  States,  and  also  the  list 
of  committees.  The  members  are  apportioned  by  him  ac- 
cording to  population,  each  State  having  at  least  one,  and 
some  two  or  three,  as  the  number  of  the  Junior  Class  may 
allow.  The  committees  are  constituted  in  the  manner  com- 
mon to  the  National  House,  the  number  of  each,  however, 
being  less.     Business  then  follows,  as  described  in  Jeffer- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  16flt 

son's  Manual ;  petitions,  remonstrances,  resolutions,  reports, 
debates,  and  all  the  '  toggery '  of  legislation  come  on  in 
regular,  or  rather  irregular  succession.  The  exercises,  as 
may  be  well  conceived,  furnish  an  excellent  opportunity  for 
improvement  in  parliamentary  tactics  and  political  oratory." 
See  Senate. 

HUMANIST.  One  who  pursues  the  study  of  the  humanities 
(liter (Z  humaniores)^  or  polite  literature  ;  a  term  used  in 
various  European  universities,  especially  the  Scotch. — 
Brande, 

HUMANITY,  pi.  Humanities.  In  the  plural  signifying 
grammar,  rhetoric,  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  and 
poetry  ;  for  teaching  which  there  are  professors  in  the  Eng- 
lish and  Scotch  universities.  —  Encyc. 

HYPHENUTE.  At  Princeton  College,  the  aristocratic  or 
would-be  aristocratic  in  dress,  manners,  dz;c.,  are  called 
Hyphenutes.  Used  both  as  a  noun  and  adjective.  Same  as 
Ot   ^A/3t(7rot,  q.  v. 


I. 

ILLUMINATE.  To  interline  with  a  translation.  Students 
illuminate  a  book  when  they  write  between  the  printed  lines 
a  translation  of  the  text.  Illuminated  books  are  preferred  by 
good  judges  to  ponies  or  hobbies,  as  the  text  and  translation 
in  them  are  brought  nearer  to  one  another.  The  idea  of 
calling  books  thus  prepared,  illuminated,  is  taken  partly 
from  the  meaning  of  the  word  illuminate,  to  adorn  with 
ornamental  letters,  substituting,  however,  in  this  case,  useful 
for  ornamental,  and  partly  from  one  of  its  other  meanings, 
to  throw  light  on,  as  on  obscure  subjects. 

IMPOSITION.  In  the  English  universities,  a  supernumerary 
exercise  ejyoined  on  students  as  a  punishment. 


1G8  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Minor  oflfences  are  punished  by  rustication,  and  those  of  a  more 
trivial  nature  by  fines,  or  by  literary  tasks,  here  termed  Impositions. 
—  Oxford  Guide,  p.  149. 

Literary  tasks  called  impositions,  or  frequent  compulsive  attend- 
ances on  tedious  and  unimproving  exercises  in  a  college  hall.  — 
T.  Warton,  Minor  Poems  of  Milton,  p.  432. 

Impositions  are  of  various  lengths.  For  missing  chapel,  about 
one  hundred   lines   to  copy ;  for  missing  a  lecture,  the  lecture  to 

translate.    This  is  the  measure  for  an  occasional  offence For 

coming  in  late  at  night  repeatedly,  or  for  any  offence  nearly  deserv- 
ing rustication,  I  have  known  a  whole  book  of  Thucydides  given 
to  translate,  or  the  Ethics  of  Aristotle  to  analyze,  when  the  of- 
fender has  been  a  good  scholar,  while  others,  who  could  only  do 
mechanical  work,  have  had  a  book  of  Euclid  to  write  out. 

Long  impositions  are  very  rarely  barberized.  When  college 
tutors  intend  to  be  severe,  which  is  very  seldom,  they  are  not  to  be 
trifled  with. 

At  Cambridge,  impositions  are  not  always  in  writing,  but  some- 
times two  or  three  hundred  lines  to  repeat  by  heart.  This  is  ruin 
to  the  barber. —  Collegian^ s  Guide,  pp.  159,  160. 

See  Barber. 

INCEPT.     To  take  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

They  may  nevertheless  take  the  degree  of  M.  A.  at  the  usual 
period,  by  putting  their  names  on  the  College  boards  a  few  days  pre- 
vious to  incepting.  —  Cambridge  Calendar. 

INCEPTOR.  One  who  has  proceeded  to  the  degree  of  A.  M., 
but  who,  not  enjoying  all  the  privileges  of  A.  M.  until  the 
Commencement,  is  in  the  mean  time  termed  an  Inceptor. 

Used  in  the  English  universities,  and  formerly  at  Harvard 
College. 

And,  in  case  any  of  the  Sophisters,  Questionists,  or  Inceptor s 
fail  in  the  premises  required  at  their  hands, they  shall  be  de- 
ferred to  the  following  year.  — ^Laws  of  1650,  in  Quincy^s  Hist. 
Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  I.  p.  518. 

The  Admissio  Inceptorum  was  as  follows  :  "  Admitto  te 
ad  secundum  gradum  in  artibus  pro  more  Academiarum  in 
Anglia  :  tibique  trado  hunc  librum  una  cum  potestate  pub- 
lice  profitendi,  ubicunque  ad  hoc  munus  publice  evocatus 
fueris.  —  Ibid,,  Vol.  L  p.  580. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  169 

INDIAN  SOCIETY.  At  the  Collegiate  Institute  of  Indiana, 
a  society  of  smokers  was  established,  in  the  year  1837, 
by  an  Indian  named  Zachary  Colbert,  and  called  the  Indian 
Society.  The  members  and  those  who  have  been  invited  to 
join  the  society,  to  the  number  of  sixty  or  eighty,  are  accus- 
tomed to  meet  in  a  small  room,  ten  feet  by  eighteen  ;  all  are 
obliged  to  smoke,  and  he  who  first  desists  is  required  to  pay 
for  the  cigars  smoked  at  that  meeting. 

INDIGO.  At  Dartmouth  College,  a  member  of  the  party 
called  the  Blues.     The  same  as  a  Blue,  which  see. 

The  Rowes,  years  ago,  used  to  room  in  Dartmouth  Hall,  though 
none  room  there  now,  and  so  they  made  up  some  verses.  Here  is 
one. 

"  Hurrah  for  Dartmouth  Hall ! 
Success  to  every  student 
That  rooms  in  Dartmouth  Hall, 

Unless  he  be  an  Indigo, 
Then,  no  success  at  all." 

The  Dartmouth,  Vol.  IV.  p.  117. 

INITIATION.  Secret  societies  exist  in  almost  all  the  colleges 
in  the  United  States,  which  require  those  who  are  admitted 
to  pass  through  certain  ceremonies  called  the  initiation. 
This  fact  is  often  made  use  of  to  deceive  Freshmen,  upon 
their  entrance  into  college,  who  are  sometimes  initiated  into 
societies  which  have  no  existence,  and  again  into  societies 
where  initiation  is  not  necessary  for  membership. 

A  correspondent  from  Dartmouth  College  writes  as  fol- 
lows :  "  I  believe  several  of  the  colleges  have  various  ex- 
ercises of  initiating  Freshmen.  Ours  is  done  by  the 
'  United  Fraternity,'  one  of  our  library  societies  (they  are 
neither  of  them  secret),  which  gives  out  word  that  the  initia- 
tion is  a  fearful  ceremony.  It  is  simply  every  kind  of  oper- 
ation that  can  be  contrived  to  terrify  and  annoy,  and  make 
fun  of  Freshmen,  who  do  not  find  out  for  some  time  that  it  is 
not  the  necessary  and  serious  ceremony  of  making  them 
members  of  the  society." 

In  the  University  of  Virginia,  students  on  entering  are 
sometimes  initiated  into  the  ways  of  college  life  by  very 
15 


170  COLLEGE    WORDS 

novel  and  unique  ceremonies,  an  account  of  which  has  been 
furnished  by  a  graduate  of  that  institution.  "  The  first 
thing,  by  way  of  admitting  the  novitiate  to  all  the  mysteries 
of  college  life,  is  to  require  of  him  in  an  official  communica- 
tion, under  apparent  signature  of  one  of  the  Professors,  a 
written  list,  tested  under  oath,  of  the  entire  number  of  his 
shirts  and  other  necessary  articles  in  his  wardrobe.  The 
list  he  is  requested  to  commit  to  memory,  and  be  prepared 
for  an  examination  on  it,  before  the  Faculty,  at  some  speci- 
fied hour.  This  the  new-comer  usually  passes  with  due 
satisfaction,  and  no  little  trepidation, -in  the  presence  of  an 
august  assemblage  of  his  student  Professors.  He  is  now 
remanded  to  his  room  to  take  his  bed,  and  to  rise  about  mid- 
night bell  for  breakfast.  The  '  Callithumpians  '  (in  this  In- 
stitution a  regularly  organized  company),  '  Squallinaders,' 
or  '  Masquers,'  perform  their  part  during  the  livelong  night 
with  instruments  *  harsh  thunder  grating  '  to  insure  to  the 
poor  youth  a  sleepless  night,  and  give  him  full  time  to  con 
over  and  curse  in  his  heart  the  miseries  of  a  college  exist- 
ence. Our  fellow-comrade  is  now  up,  dressed,  and  washed, 
perhaps  two  hours  in  advance  of  the  first  light  of  dawn,  and 
under  the  guidance  of  a  posse  comifatus  of  older  students  is 
kindly  conducted  to  his  morning  meal.  A  long  alley,  tech- 
nically '  Green  Alley,'  terminating  with  a  brick  wall,  inform- 
ing all, '  Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  farther,'  is  pointed  out 
to  him,  with  directions  '  to  follow  his  nose  and  keep  straight 
ahead.'  Of  course  the  unsophisticated  finds  himself  com- 
pletely nonplused,  and  gropes  his  way  back,  amidst  the  loud 
vociferations  of  '  Go  it,  green  un ! '  With  due  apologies 
for  the  treatment  he  has  received,  and  violent  denunciations 
against  the  former  posse  for  their  unheard-of  insolence  to- 
wards the  gentleman,  he  is  now  placed  under  different 
guides,  who  volunteer  their  services  '  to  see  him  through.' 
Suffice  it  to  be  said,  that  he  is  again  egregiously  '  taken  in,' 
being  deposited  in  the  Rotunda  or  Lecture-room,  and  told  to 
ring  for  whatever  he  wants,  either  coffee  or  hot  biscuit,  but 
particularly  enjoined  not  to  leave  without  special  permission 
from  one  of  the  Faculty.     The  length  of  his  sojourn  in  this 


AND    CUSTOMS.  171 

place,  where  he  is  finally  left,  is  of  course  in  proportion  to 
his  state  of  verdancy." 

INSPECTOR  OF  THE  COLLEGE.  At  Yale  College,  a 
person  appointed  to  ascertain,  inspect,  and  estinnate  all 
damages  done  to  the  College  buildings  and  appurtenances, 
whenever  required  by  the  President.  All  repairs,  additions, 
and  alterations  are  made  under  his  inspection,  and  he  is  also 
authorized  to  determine  whether  the  College  chambers  are 
fit  for  the  reception  of  the  students.  Formerly  the  same 
office  existed  in  Harvard  College,  and  was  held  by  one  of  the 
members  of  the  College  government.  His  duty  was  to  ex- 
amine the  state  of  the  College  public  buildings,  and  also  at 
stated  times  to  examine  the  exterior  and  interior  of  the 
buildings  occupied  by  the  students,  and  to  cause  such  re- 
pairs to  be  made  as  were  in  his  opinion  proper.  The 
same  duties  are  now  performed  by  the  Superintendent  of 
Public  Buildings.  —  Laws  Yale  Coll.^  1837,  p.  22.  Laws 
Harv.  Coll.,  1814,  p.  58,  and  1848,  p.  29. 

INTERLINEAR.  A  printed  book,  with  a  written  translation 
between  the  lines.  The  same  as  an  illuminated  book  ;  for 
an  account  of  which,  see  under  Illuminate. 

Then  devotes  himself  to  study,  with  a  steady,  earnest  zeal, 
And  scorns  an  Interlinear,  or  a  Pony's  meek  appeal. 

Poem  before  ladma,  1850,  p.  20. 

Sometimes  written  Interliner. 

Ponies,  Interliners,  Ticks,  Screws,  and  Deads  (these  are  all  col- 
lege verbalities)  were  all  put  under  contribution.  —  A  Tour  through 
College,  p.  25.     Boston,  1832. 

INTONITANS  BOLUS.  Greek,  jSSXoy,  a  lump.  Latin, 
bolus,  a  bit,  a  morsel.  English,  bolus,  a  mass  of  any  thing 
made  into  a  large  pill.  It  may  be  translated  a  thundering 
pill.  At  Harvard  College,  the  Intonitans  Bolus  was  a  great 
cane  or  club  which  was  given  nominally  to  the  strongest 
fellow  in  the  graduating  class  ;  "  but  really,"  says  a  corre- 
spondent, "  to  the  greatest  bully,"  and  thus  was  transmitted, 
as  an  entailed  estate,  to  the  Samsons  of  College.  If  any  one 
felt  that  he  had  been  wronged  in  not  receiving  this  emblem 


172  COLLEGE    WORDS 

of  valor,  he  was  permitted  to  take  it  from  its  possessor  if  he 
could.  In  later  years  the  club  presented  a  very  curious  ap- 
pearance ;  being  almost  entirely  covered  with  the  names  of 
those  who  had  held  it,  carved  on  its  surface  in  letters  of  all 
imaginable  shapes  and  descriptions.  It  has  disappeared 
within  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years,  and  its  hiding-place,  even 
if  it  is  in  existence,  is  not  known. 
See  BuLLYiSM. 


JACK-KNIFE.  At  Harvard  College  it  has  long  been  the  cus- 
tom for  the  ugliest  member  of  the  Senior  Class  to  receive 
from  his  classmates  a  Jack-knife^  as  a  reward  or  conso- 
lation for  the  plainness  of  his  features.  In  former  times, 
it  was  transmitted  from  class  to  class,  its  possessor  in  the 
graduating  class  presenting  it  to  the  one  who  was  deemed 
the  ugliest  in  the  class  next  below. 

Mr.  William  Biglow,  a  member  of  the  class  of  1794,  the 
recipient  for  that  year  of  the  Jack-knife, — in  an  article  under 
the  head  of"  Omnium  Gatherum,"  published  in  the  Federal 
Orrery,  April  27,  1795,  entitled,  "  A  Will  :  Being  the  last 
words  of  Charles  Chatterbox,  Esq.,  late  worthy  and  much 
lamented  member  of  the  Laughing  Club  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, who  departed  college  life,  June  21,  1794,  in  the 
twenty-first  year  of  his  age,"  —  presents  this  transmit lendum 
to  his  successor,  with  the  following  words :  — 

*'  Item,     C P s*  has  my  knife, 

During  his  natural  college  life  ; 

That  knife,  which  ugliness  inherits, 

And  due  to  his  superior  merits, 

*  Charles  Prentiss,  who  when  this  was  written  was  a  member  of 
the  Junior  Class.  Both  he  and  Mr.  Biglow  were  fellows  of  "  infinite 
jest,"  and  were  noted  for  the  superiority  of  their  talents  and  intellect. 


AND   CUSTOMS. 


173 


And  when  from  Harvard  he  shall  steer, 
I  order  hira  to  leave  it  here, 
That  't  may  from  class  to  class  descend, 
Till  time  and  ugliness  shall  end." 

Mr.  Prentiss,  in  the  autumn  of  1795,  soon  after  graduating, 
commenced  the  publication  of  the  Rural  Repository,  at  Leo- 
minster, Mass.  In  one  of  the  earliest  numbers  of  this  paper, 
following  the  example  of  Mr.  Biglow,  he  published  his  will, 
which  Mr.  Paine,  the  editor  of  the  Federal  Orrery,  immediate- 
ly transferred  to  his  columns  with  this  introductory  note  :  — 
"  Having,  in  the  second  number  of '  Omnium  Gatherum '  pre- 
sented to  our  readers  the  last  will  and  testament  of  Charles 
Chatterbox,  Esq.,  of  witty  memory,  wherein  the  said  Charles, 

now  deceased,  did  lawfully  bequeathe  to  Ch s  Pr s 

the  celebrated  *  Ugly  Knife,'  to  be  by  him  transmitted,  at  his 
college  demise,  to  the  next  succeeding  candidate  ;  *  *  *  * 

and  whereas  the  said  Ch s  Pr s,  on  the  21st  of  June 

last,  departed  his  aforesaid  college  life,  thereby  leaving  to 
the  inheritance  of  his  successor  the  valuable  legacy  which 
his  illustrious  friend  had  bequeathed,  as  an  entailed  estate,  to 
the  poets  of  the  university, —  we  have  thought  proper  to  in- 
sert a  full,  true,  and  attested  copy  of  the  will  of  the  last 
deceased  heir,  in  order  that  the  world  may  be  furnished  with 
a  correct  genealogy  of  this  renowned  Jack-knife^  whose 
pedigree  will  become  as  illustrious  in  after  time  as  the  fam- 
ily of  the  '  RoLLES,'  and  which  will  be  celebrated  by  future 
wits  as  the  most  formidable  weapon  of  modern  genius." 

That  part  of  the  will  only  is  here  inserted  which  refers 
particularly  to  the  Knife.     It  is  as  follows  :  — 

I  —  I  say  I,  now  make  this  will ; 
Let  those  whom  I  assign  fulfil. 
I  give,  grant,  render,  and  convey 
My  goods  and  chattels  thus  away  ; 
That  honor  of  a  college  life^ 
That  celebrated  Ugly  Knife, 
Which  predecessor  Sawney  *  orders. 
Descending  to  time's  utmost  borders, 

*  Mr.   Biglow  was  known  in   college  by  the  name  of  Sawney, 
15* 


174  COLLEGE    WORDS 

To  noblest  bard  of  homeliest  phiz. 
To  have  and  hold  and  use,  as  his  ; 

I  now  present  C s  P y  "S r,* 

To  keep  with  his  poetic  lumber, 

To  scrape  his  quid,  and  make  a  split, 

To  point  his  pen  for  sharpening  wit ; 

And  order  that  he  ne'er  abuse 

Said  ugly  knife,  in  dirtier  use, 

And  let  said  Charles,  that  best  of  writers, 

Tn  prose  satiric  skilled  to  bite  us. 

And  equally  in  verse  delight  us, 

Take  special  care  to  keep  it  clean 

From  unpoetic  hands,  —  I  w^een. 

And  when  those  walls,  the  muses'  seat, 

Said  S r  is  obliged  to  quit, 

•  Let  some  one  of  Apollo's  firing, 

To  such  heroic  joys  aspiring. 
Who  long  has  borne  a  poet's  name. 
With  said  Knife  cut  his  way  to  fame." 
See  Buckingham's  Reminiscences,  Vol.  11.  pp.  231,  270. 

Tradition  asserts  that  the  original  Jack-knife  was  termi- 
nated at  one  end  of  the  handle  by  a  large  blade,  and  at  the 
other  by  a  projecting  piece  of  iron  to  which  a  chain  of  the 
same  metal  was  attached,  and  that  it  was  customary  to  carry 
it  in  the  pocket  fastened  by  this  chain  to  some  part  of  the 
person.  When  this  was  lost,  and  the  custom  of  transmitting 
the  Knife  went  out  of  fashion,  the  class,  guided  by  no  rule 
but  that  of  their  own  fancy,  were  accustomed  to  present  any 
thing  in  the  shape  of  a  knife,  whether  oyster  or  case,  it  made 
no  difference.  In  one  instance  a  wooden  one  was  given, 
and  was  immediately  burned  by  the  person  who  received  it. 
At  present  the  Jack-knife  is  voted  to  the  ugliest  member  of 
the  Senior  Class  at  the  meeting  for  the  election  of  officers 
for  Class  Day,  and  the  sum  appropriated  for  its  purchase 
varies  in  different  years  from  fifty  cents  to  twenty  dollars. 
The  custom  of  presenting  the  Jack-knife  is  one  of  the  most 

and  was  thus  frequently   addressed  by  his  familiar  friends  in   after 
life. 

*  Charles  Pinckney  Sumner,  afterwards  a  lawyer  in  Boston,  and  for 
many  years  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Suffolk. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  175 

amusing  of  those  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  past, 
and  if  any  conclusion  may  be  drawn  from  the  interest  which 
is  now  manifested  in  its  observance,  it  is  safe  to  infer,  in  the 
words  of  the  poet,  that  it  will  continue 

*'  Till  time  and  ugliness  shall  end." 
In  the  Collegiate  Institute  of  Indiana,  a  Jack-knife  is  given 
to  the  greatest  liar,  as  a  reward  of  merit. 

JOE.  A  name  given  at  Yale  and  Hamilton  Colleges  to  a 
privy.  The  following  account  of  Joe-Burning  is  by  a  cor- 
respondent from  Hamilton  College  : — "  On  the  night  of  the 
5th  of  November,  every  year,  the  Sophomore  Class  burn 
'  Joe.'  A  large  pile  is  made  of  rails,  logs,  and  light  wood,  in 
the  form  of  a  triangle.  The  space  within  is  filled  level  to 
the  top,  with  all  manner  of  combustibles.  A  '  Joe  '  is  then 
sought  for  by  the  class,  carried  from  its  foundations  on  a 
rude  bier,  and  placed  on  this  pile.  The  interior  is  filled  with 
wood  and  straw,  surrounding  a  barrel  of  tar  placed  in  the 
middle,  over  all  of  which  gallons  of  turpentine  are  thrown, 
and  then  set  fire  to.  From  the  top  of  the  lofty  hill  on  which 
the  College  buildings  are  situated,  this  fire  can  be  seen  for 
twenty  miles  around.  The  Sophomores  are  all  disguised  in 
the  most  odd  and  grotesque  dresses.  A  ring  is  formed 
around  the  burning  '  Joe,'  and  a  chant  is  sung.  Horses  of 
the  neighbors  are  obtained  and  ridden  indiscriminately,  with- 
out saddle  or  bridle.  The  burning  continues  usually  until 
daylight." 

Ponamus  Convivium 
Josephi  in  locum, 
Et  id  uremus. 

Convivii  ExsequicB,  Hamilton  Coll,,  1850. 

JUN.     Abbreviated  for  Junior. 

The  target  for  all  the  venomed  darts  of  rowdy  Sophs,  magnifi- 
cent Juns,  and  lazy  Senes.  —  The  Yale  Banger,  Nov.  10,  1846. 

JUNIOR.     One  in  the  third  year  of  his  collegiate  course  in 
an  American  college,  formerly  called  Junior  Sophister. 
See  SoPHiSTER. 

2.  One  in  the  first  year  of  his  course  at  a  theological 
seminary.  —  Webster, 


176  COLLEGE    WORDS 

JUNIOR.  Noting  the  third  year  of  the  collegiate  course  in 
American  colleges,  or  the  first  year  in  the  theological  sem- 
inaries. —  Webster. 

JUNIOR  APPOINTMENTS.  At  Yale  College,  there  appears 
yearly,  in  the  papers  conducted  by  the  students,  a  burlesque 
imitation  of  the  regular  appointments  of  the  Junior  exhibition. 
These  mock  appointments  are  generally  of  a  satirical  nature, 
referring  to  peculiarities  of  habits,  character,  or  manners. 
The  following,  taken  from  some  of  the  Yale  newspapers, 
may  be  considered  as  specimens  of  the  subjects  usually  as- 
signed. Philosophical  Oration,  given  to  one  distinguished  for 
a  certain  peculiarity  ;  subject,  "  The  Advantage  of  a  Great 
Breadth  of  Base."  Latin  Oration,  to  a  vain  person ;  subject, 
"  Amor  Sui."  Dissertations:  to  a  meddling  person;  subject, 
"  The  Busybody  "  ;  to  a  poor  punster,  subject,  "  Diseased 
Razors";  to  a  poor  scholar,  subject,  "Flunk  on,  —  flunk 
ever."  Colloquy,  to  a  joker  whose  wit  was  not  estimated  ; 
subject,  "  Unappreciated  Facetiousness." 
See  Mock  Part. 

JUNIOR  BACHELOR.  One  who  is  in  his  first  year  after 
taking  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 

No  Junior  Bachelor  shall  continue  in  the  College  after  the  com- 
mencement in  the  Summer  vacation. — Laws  of  Harv,  Coll.,  1798, 
p.  19. 


K. 

KEEP.  To  lodge,  live,  dwell,  or  inhabit.  This  word,  though 
formerly  used  extensively,  is  now  confined  to  colleges  and 
universities. 

Inquire  of  any  body  you  meet  in  the  court  of  a  college  at  Cam- 
bridge your  way  to  Mr.  A 's  room,  you  will  be  told  that  he 

keeps  on  such  a  staircase,  up  so  many  pair  of  stairs,  door  to  the 
right  or  left.  —  Forhy's  Vocabulary,  Vol.  II.  p.  178. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  177 

He  said  I  ought  to  have  asked  for  his  rooms,  or  inquired  where 
he  kept. —  Gent.  Mag.,  1795,  p.  118. 

Dr.  Johnson,  in  his  Dictionary,  cites  this  very  apposite 
passage  from  Shakspeare  :  *'  Knock  at  the  study  where 
they  say  he  keeps."  Mr.  Pickering,  in  his  Vocabulary, 
says  of  the  word  :  "  This  is  noted  as  an  Americanism  in 
the  Monthly  Anthology,  Vol.  V.  p.  428.  It  is  less  used 
now  than  formerly." 

To  keep  an  act.,  in  the  English  universities,  "  to  perform 
an  exercise  in  the  public  schools  preparatory  to  the  pro- 
ceeding in  degrees."  The  phrase  was  formerly  in  use  in 
Harvard  College.  In  an  account  in  the  Mass.  Hist.  Coll., 
Vol.  I.  p.  245,  entitled  New  England's  First  Fruits,  is  the 
following  in  reference  to  that  institution  :  "  The  students  of 
the  first  classis  that  have  beene  these  foure  yeeres  trained 
up  in  University  learning,  and  are  approved  for  their  man- 
ners, as  they  have  kept  their  publick  Acts  in  former 
yeeres,  ourselves  being  present  at  them  ;  so  have  they  lately 
kept  two  solemn  Acts  for  their  Commencement." 

To  keep  Chapel,  in  colleges,  to  attend  Divine  services, 
which  are  there  performed  daily. 

**  As  you  have  failed  to  make  up  your  number  of  chapels  the  last 
two  weeks,"  such  are  the  very  words  of  the  Dean,  "  you  will,  if 
you  please,  Aeep  every  chapel  till  the  end  of  term."  —  Household 
Words,  Vol.  II.  p.  161. 

To  keep  a  term,  in  universities,  is  to  reside  during  a 
term.  —  Webster. 

KITCHEN-HATCH.  A  half-door  between  the  kitchen  and 
the  hall  in  colleges  and  old  mansions.  At  Harvard  College, 
the  students  in  former  times  received  at  the  kitchen-hatch 
their  food  for  the  evening  meal,  which  they  were  allowed  to 
eat  in  the  yard  or  at  their  rooms.  At  the  same  place  the 
waiters  also  took  the  food  which  they  carried  to  the  tables. 

The  waiters  when  the  bell  rings  at  meal-time  shall  take  the  vict- 
uals at  the  kitchen-hatch,  and  carry  the  same  to  the  several  tables 
for  which  they  are  designed.  —  Laws  Harv.  Coll.,  1798,  p.  41. 
See  Buttery-hatch. 


178  COLLEGE    WORDS 

KNOCK  IN.  A  phrase  used  at  Oxford,  and  thus  explained 
in  the  Collegian's  Guide  :  "  Knocking  in  late,  or  coming 
into  college  after  eleven  or  twelve  o'clock,  is  punished  fre- 
quently with  being  '  confined  to  gates,'  or  being  forbidden  to 
'  knock  in '  or  come  in  after  nine  o'clock  for  a  week  or 
more,  sometimes  all  the  term."  —  p.  161. 

KNUCKS.     From  Knuckles.     At  some  of  the  Southern  col- 
leges, a  game  at  marbles  called  Knucks  is  a  common  diver- 
the  students. 


LANDSMANNSCHAFT.  German.  The  name  of  an  asso- 
ciation of  students  in  German  universities. 

LAP-EAR.  At  Washington  College,  Penn.,  students  of  a 
religious  character  are  called  lap-ears  or  donkeys.  The 
opposite  class  are  known  by  the  common  name  of  bloods. 

LATIN  SPOKEN  AT  COLLEGES.  At  our  older  Ameri- 
can  colleges  students  were  formerly  required  to  be  able  to 
speak  and  write  Latin  before  admission,  and  to  continue  the 
use  of  it  after  they  had  become  members.  In  his  History 
of  Harvard  University,  Quincy  remarks  on  this  subject :  — 

"  At  a  period  when  Latin  was  the  common  instrument  of 
communication  among  the  learned,  and  the  official  language 
of  statesmen,  great  attention  was  naturally  paid  to  this 
branch  of  education.  Accordingly,  '  to  speak  true  Latin, 
both  in  prose  and  verse,'  was  made  an  essential  requisite  for 
admission.  Among  the  '  Laws  and  Liberties  '  of  the  College 
we  also  find  the  following  :  '  The  scholars  shall  never  use 
their  mother  tongue,  except  that,  in  public  exercises  of  ora- 
tory or  such  like,  they  be  called  to  make  them  in  English.' 
This  law  appears  upon  the  records  of  the  College  in  the 


AND   CUSTOMS.  179 

Latin  as  well  as  in  the  English  language.  The  terms  in 
the  former  are  indeed  less  restrictive  and  more  practical  : 
'  Scholares  vernacula  lingua,  intra  Collegii  limites^  nullo 
pretextu  utentur.'  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  those 
educated  at  the  College,  and  destined  for  the  learned  profes- 
sions, acquired  an  adequate  acquaintance  with  the  Latin, 
and  those  destined  to  become  divines,  with  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew.  In  other  respects,  although  the  sphere  of  instruc- 
tion was  limited,  it  was  sufficient  for  the  age  and  country, 
and  amply  supplied  all  their  purposes  and  wants."  —  Vol.  I. 
pp.  193,  194. 

By  the  laws  of  1734,  the  undergraduates  were  required  to 
"  declaim  publicly  in  the  hall,  in  one  of  the  three  learned 
languages  ;  and  in  no  other  without  leave  or  direction  from 
the  President."  The  observance  of  this  rule  seems  to  have 
been  first  laid  aside,  when,  "  at  an  Overseers'  meeting  at 
the  College,  April  27th,  1756,  John  Vassall,  Jonathan  Allen, 
Tristram  Oilman,  Thomas  Toppan,  Edward  Walker,  Samuel 
Barrett  presented  themselves  before  the  Board,  and  pro- 
nounced in  the  respective  characters  assigned  them  a  dia- 
logue in  the  English  tongue^  translated  from  Castalio,  and 
then  withdrew."  —  Peirce^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.^  p.  240. 

The  first  English  Oration  was  spoken  by  Mr.  Jedediah 
Huntington  in  the  year  1763,  and  the  first  English  Poem  by 
Mr.  John  Davis  in  1781. 

In  reference  to  this  subject  as  connected  with  Yale  College, 
President  Woolsey  remarks,  in  his  Historical  Discourse  :  — 

"  With  regard  to  practice  in  the  learned  languages,  par- 
ticularly the  Latin,  it  is  prescribed  that  '  no  scholar  shall 
use  the  English  tongue  in  the  College  with  his  fellow-schol- 
ars, unless  he  be  called  to  a  public  exercise  proper  to  be 
attended  in  the  English  tongue,  but  scholars  in  their  cham- 
bers, and  when  they  are  together,  shall  talk  Latin.'  "  —  p.  59. 

"  The  fluent  use  of  Latin  was  acquired  by  the  great  body 
of  the  students  ;  nay,  certain  phrases  were  caught  up  by 
the  very  cooks  in  the  kitchen.  Yet  it  cannot  be  said  that 
elegant  Latin  was  either  spoken  or  written.  There  was  not, 
it  would  appear,  much  practice  in  writing  this  language. 


180  COLLEGE    WORDS 

except  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  candidates  for  Berk- 
leian  prizes.  And  the  extant  specimens  of  Latin  discourses 
written  by  the  officers  of  the  College  in  the  past  century  are 
not  eminently  Ciceronian  in  their  style.  The  speaking  of 
Latin,  which  was  kept  up  as  the  College  dialect  in  rendering 
excuses  for  absences,  in  syllogistic  disputes,  and  in  much  of 
the  intercourse  between  the  officers  and  students,  became 
nearly  extinct  about  the  time  of  Dr.  Dwight's  accession. 
And  at  the  same  period  syllogistic  disputes  as  distinguished 
from  forensic  seem  to  have  entirely  ceased."  —  p.  62. 

The  following  story  is  from  the  Sketches  of  Yale  College. 
"  In  former  times,  the  students  were  accustomed  to  assemble 
together  to  render  excuses  for  absence  in  Latin.  One  of 
the  Presidents  was  in  the  habit  of  answering  to  almost  every 
excuse  presented,  '  Ratio  non  sufficit '  (The  reason  is  not 
sufficient).  On  one  occasion,  a  young  man  who  had  died  a 
short  time  previous  was  called  upon  for  an  excuse.  Some 
one  answered,  '  Mortuus  est'  (He  is  dead).  'Ratio  non 
sufficit,'  repeated  the  grave  President,  to  the  infinite  merri- 
ment of  his  auditors."  —  p.  182. 

The  story  is  current  of  one  of  the  old  Presidents  of  Har- 
vard College,  that,  wishing  to  have  a  dog  that  had  strayed  in 
at  evening  prayers  driven  out  of  the  Chapel,  he  exclaimed, 
half  in  Latin  and  half  in  English,  "  Exclude  canem  et  shut 
the  door."  It  is  also  related  that  a  Freshman  who  had  been 
shut  up  in  the  buttery  by  some  Sophomores,  and  had  on  that 
account  been  absent  from  a  recitation,  when  called  upon 
with  a  number  of  others  to  render  an  excuse,  not  knowing 
how  to  express  his  ideas  in  Latin,  replied  in  as  learned  a 
manner  as  possible,  hoping  that  his  answer  would  pass  as 
Latin,  "  Shut  m'  up  in  t'  Buttery." 

See  NoN  Paravi  and  Non  Valui. 

LAUREATE.  To  honor  with  a  degree  in  the  university,  and 
a  present  of  a  wreath  of  laurel.  —  Warton. 

LAUREATION.  The  act  of  conferring  a  degree  in  the  uni- 
versity, together  with  a  wreath  of  laurel ;  an  honor  bestowed 
on  those  who  excelled  in  writing  verse.     This  was  an  an- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  181 

cient  practice  at  Oxford,  from  which,  probably,  originated 
the  denomination  o^ poet  laureate.  —  Warton. 

The  laurel  crown,  according  to  Brande,  "  was  customarily 
given  at  the  universities  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  such  persons 
as  took  degrees  in  grammar  and  rhetoric,  of  which  poetry 
formed  a  branch  ;  whence,  according  to  some  authors,  the 
term  Baccalaureatus  has  been  derived."  The  academical 
custom  of  bestowing  the  laurel,  and  the  court  custom,  were 
distinct  until  the  former  was  abolished.  The  last  instance 
in  which  the  laurel  was  bestowed  in  the  universities,  was  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth. 

LAWS.  In  early  times  the  laws  in  the  oldest  colleges  in  the 
United  States  were  as  often  in  Latin  as  in  English.  They 
were  usually  in  manuscript,  and  the  students  were  required 
to  make  copies  for  themselves  on  entering  college.  The 
Rev,  Henry  Dunster,  who  was  the  first  President  of  Harvard 
College,  formed  the  first  code  of  laws  for  the  College.  They 
were  styled,  "  The  Laws,  Liberties,  and  Orders  of  Harvard 
College,  confirmed  by  the  Overseers  and  President  of  the 
College  in  the  years  1642,  1643,  1644,  1645,  and  1646,  and 
published  to  the  scholars  for  the  perpetual  preservation  of 
their  welfare  and  government."  Referring  to  him,  Quincy 
says  :  "  Under  his  administration,  the  first  code  of  laws  was 
formed  ;  rules  of  admission,  and  the  principles  on  which 
degrees  should  be  granted,  were  established  ;  and  scholastic 
forms,  similar  to  those  customary  in  the  English  universities, 
were  adopted  ;  many  of  which  continue,  with  little  variation, 
to  be  used  at  the  present  time."  —  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol. 
I.  p.  15. 

In  1732,  the  laws  were  revised,  and  it  was  voted  that  they 
should  all  be  in  Latin,  and  that  each  student  should  have  a 
copy,  which  he  was  to  write  out  for  himself  and  subscribe. 
In  1790,  they  were  again  revised  and  printed  in  English, 
since  which  time  many  editions  have  been  issued. 

Of  the  laws  of  Yale  College,  President  Woolsey  gives  the 

following   account,  in  his    Historical    Discourse  before  the 

Graduates  of  that  institution,  Aug.  14,  1850.     "  In  the  very 

first  year  of  the  legal  existence  of  the  College,  we  find  the^ 

16 


182  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Trustees  ordaining,  that, '  until  they  should  provide  further, 
the  Rector  or  Tutors  should  make  use  of  the  orders  and  in- 
stitutions of  Harvard  College,  for  the  instructing  and  ruling 
of  the  collegiate  school,  so  far  as  they  should  judge  them 
suitable,  and  wherein  the  Trustees  had  not  at  that  meeting 
made  provision.'  The  regulations  then  made  by  the  Trus- 
tees went  no  farther  than  to  provide  for  the  religious  educa- 
tion of  the  College,  and  to  give  to  the  College  officers  the 
power  of  imposing  extraordinary  school  exercises  or  degra- 
dation in  the  class.  The  earliest  known  laws  of  the  College 
belong  to  the  years  1720  and  1726,  and  are  in  manuscript ; 
which  is  explained  by  the  custom  that  every  Freshman,  on 
his  admission,  was  required  to  write  off  a  copy  of  them  for 
himself,  to  which  the  admittatur  of  the  officers  was  sub- 
scribed. In  the  year  1745  a  new  revision  of  the  laws  was 
completed,  which  exists  in  manuscript ;  but  the  first  printed 
code  was  in  Latin,  and  issued  from  the  press  of  T.  Green 
at  New  London,  in  1748.  Various  editions,  with  sundry 
changes  in  them,  appeared  between  that  time  and  the  year 
1774,  when  the  first  edition  in  English  saw  the  light. 

"  It  is  said  of  this  edition  that  it  was  printed  by  particular 
order  of  the  legislature.  That  honorable  body,  being  impor- 
tuned to  extend  aid  to  the  College,  not  long  after  the  time 
when  President  Clap's  measures  had  excited  no  inconsider- 
able ill-will,  demanded  to  see  the  laws ;  and  accordingly  a 
bundle  of  the  Latin  laws,  —  the  only  ones  in  existence,  — 
were  sent  over  to  the  State-House.  Not  admiring  legislation 
in  a  dead  language,  and  being  desirous  to  pry  into  the  mys- 
teries which  it  sealed  up  from  some  of  the  members,  they 
ordered  the  code  to  be  translated.  From  that  time  the  num- 
berless editions  of  the  laws  have  all  been  in  the  English 
tongue."  —  pp.  45,  46. 

The  College  of  William  and  Mary,  which  was  founded  in 
1693,  imitated  in  its  laws  and  customs  the  English  universi- 
ties, but  especially  the  University  of  Oxford.  The  other 
colleges  which  were  founded  before  the  Revolution,  viz. 
New  Jersey  College,  Columbia  College,  Pennsylvania  Uni- 
versity, Brown  Universify,  Dartmouth,  and  Rutgers  College, 


AND    CUSTOMS.  ISS 

*'  generally  imitated  Harvard  in  the  order  of  classes,  the 
course  of  studies,  the  use  of  text-books,  and  the  manner  of 
instruction."  —  u4m.  Quart.  Reg.,  Vol.  XV.  1843,  p.  426. 

The  colleges  which  were  founded  after  the  Revolution 
compiled  their  laws,  in  a  great  measure,  from  those  of  the 
above-named  colleges. 

LEATHER  MEDAL.  At  Harvard  College,  the  Leather 
Medal  was  formerly  bestowed  upon  the  laziest  fellow  in 
College.  He  was  to  be  last  at  recitation,  last  at  commons, 
seldom  at  morning  prayers,  and  always  asleep  in  church. 

LECTURE.  A  discourse  read.,  as  the  derivation  of  the  word 
implies,  by  a  professor  to  his  pupils  ;  more  generally  it 
is  applied  to  every  species  of  instruction  communicated  viva 
voce.  —  Brande, 

In  American  colleges,  lectures  form  a  part  of  the  colle- 
giate instruction,  especially  during  the  last  two  years,  in  the 
latter  part  of  which,  in  some  colleges,  they  divide  the  lime 
nearly  equally  with  recitations. 

2.  A  rehearsal  of  a  lesson.  —  Eng,  TJniv, 
LEM.     At  Williams  College,  a  privy. 

LETTER  HOME.  A  writer  in  the  American  Literary  Mag- 
azine, thus  explains  and  remarks  upon  the  custom  of  pun- 
ishing students  by  sending  a  letter  to  their  parents  :  —  "  In 
some  institutions,  there  is  what  is  called  the  '  letter  home,'*  — 
which,  however,  in  justice  to  professors  and  tutors  in  gen- 
eral, we  ought  to  say,  is  a  punishment  inflicted  upon  parents 
for  sending  their  sons  to  college,  rather  than  upon  delinquent 
students.  A  certain  number  of  absences  from  matins  or 
vespers,  or  from  recitations,  entitles  the  culprit  to  a  heart- 
rending epistle,  addressed,  not  to  himself,  but  to  his  anxious 
father  or  guardian  at  home.  The  document  is  always  con- 
ceived in  a  spirit  of  severity,  in  order  to  make  it  likely  to 
take  effect.  It  is  meant  to  be  impressive,  less  by  the  hei- 
nousness  of  the  oflTence  upon  which  it  is  predicated,  than  by 
the  pregnant  terms  in  which  it  is  couched.  It  often  creates 
a  misery  and  anxiety  far  away  from  the  place  wherein  it  is 


184  COLLEGE    WORDS 

indited,  not  because  it  is  understood,  but  because  it  is  mis- 
understood and  exaggerated  by  the  recipient.  While  the 
student  considers  it  a  farcical  proceeding,  it  is  a  leaf  of  trag- 
edy to  fathers  and  mothers.  Then  the  thing  is  explained. 
The  offence  is  sifted.  The  father  finds  out  that  less  than  a 
dozen  morning  naps  are  all  that  is  necessary  to  bring  about 
this  stupendous  correspondence.  The  moral  effect  of  the 
act  of  discipline  is  neutralized,  and  the  parent  is  perhaps  too 
glad,  at  finding  his  anxiety  all  but  groundless,  to  denounce 
iKe  puerile,  infant-school  system,  which  he  has  been  made 
to  comprehend  by  so  painful  a  process."  —  Vol.  IV.  p.  402. 

Avaunt,  ye  terrific  dreams  of  "  failures,"  "  conditions,"  *'  letters 
home,''  and  *'  admonitions."  —  Yale  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol.  III.  p.  407. 

The  birch  twig  sprouts  into  —  letters  home  and  dismissions.  — 
i^iW.,  Vol.  XIII.  p.  369. 

But  if  they,  capricious  through  long  indulgence,  did  not  choose 
to  get  up,  what  then  ?  Why,  absent  marks  and  letters  home.  —  Yale 
Banger,  Oct.  22,  1847. 

LICET  MIGRARl.  Latin ;  literally,  it  is  permitted  him  to 
he  removed.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  a 
permission  to  leave  one's  college.  This  differs  from  the 
Bene  Discessit,  for  although  you  may  leave  with  consent,  it 
by  no  means  follows  in  this  case  that  you  have  the  appro- 
bation of  the  Master  and  Fellows  so  to  do.  —  Gradus  ad 
Cantab. 

LITTLE-GO.  In  the  English  universities,  a  cant  name  for 
a  public  examination  about  the  middle  of  the  course,  which, 
being  less  strict  and  less  important  in  its  consequences  than 
the  final  one,  has  received  this  appellation.  —  Lyell. 

Whether  a  regular  attendance  on  the  lecture  of  the  college 
would  secure  me  a  qualification  against  my  first  public  examina- 
tion ;  which  is  here  called  the  Little-go.  —  The  Etonian,  Vol.  II. 
p.  283. 

Also  called  at  Oxford  Smalls^  or  Small-go, 
You  must  be  prepared  with  your  list  of  books,  your  testamur  for 
Responsions  (by  Undergraduates  called  "  Little-go  "  or  *'  Smalls  "), 
and   also  your   certificate   of  matriculation. —  Collegian's    Guide, 
p.  241. 

See  Responsion. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  186 

LIBERTY  TREE.  At  Harvard  College,  a  tree  which  for- 
merly stood  between  Massachusetts  and  Harvard  Halls  re- 
ceived, about  the  year  1760,  the  name  of  the  Liberty  Tree, 
on  an  occasion  which  is  mentioned  in  Hutchinson's  posthu- 
mous volume  of  the  History  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  "  The 
spirit  of  liberty,"  says  he,  "  spread  where  it  was  not  intended. 
The  Undergraduates  at  Harvard  College  had  been  long  used 
to  make  excuses  for  absence  from  prayers  and  college  ex-  - 
ercises ;  pretending  detention  at  their  chambers  by  their 
parents,  or  friends,  who  come  to  visit  them.  The  tutors 
came  into  an  agreement  not  to  admit  such  excuses,  unless 
the  scholar  came  to  the  tutor,  before  prayers  or  college  ex- 
ercises, and  obtained  leave  to  be  absent.  This  gave  such 
offence,  that  the  scholars  met  in  a  body,  under  and  about  a 
great  tree,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  the  tree  of  lib* 
erty  !  There  they  came  into  several  resolves  in  favor  of 
liberty ;  one  of  them,  that  the  rule  or  order  of  the  tutors  was 
unconstitutional.  The  windows  of  some  of  the  tutors  were 
broken  soon  after,  by  persons  unknown.  Several  of  the 
scholars  were  suspected,  and  examined.  One  of  them 
falsely  reported  that  he  had  been  confined  without  victuals 
or  drink,  in  order  to  compel  him  to  a  confession  ;  and  an- 
other declared,  that  he  had  seen  him  under  this  confinement. 
This  caused  an  attack  upon  the  tutors,  and  brickbats  were 
thrown  into  the  room,  where  they  had  met  together  in  the 
evening,  through  the  windows.  Three  or  four  of  the  rioters 
were  discovered  and  expelled.  The  three  junior  classes 
went  to  the  President  and  desired  to  give  up  their  chambers, 
and  to  leave  the  college.  The  fourth  class,  which  was  to 
remain  but  about  three  months,  and  then  to  be  admitted  to 
their  degrees,  applied  to  the  President  for  a  recommendation 
to  the  college  in  Connecticut,  that  they  might  be  admitted 
there.  The  Overseers  of  the  College  met  on  the  occasion, 
and,  by  a  vigorous  exertion  of  the  powers  with  which  they 
were  intrusted,  strengthened  the  hands  of  the  President  and 
tutors,  by  confirming  the  expulsions,  and  declaring  their 
resolution  to  support  the  subordinate  government  of  the  Col- 
lege ;  and  the  scholars  were  brought  to  a  sense  and  ac- 
16* 


186  COLLEGE    WORDS 

knowledgment  of  their  fault,  and  a  stop  was  put  to  the  re- 
volt." —  Vol.  III.  p.  187. 

Some  years  after,  this  tree  was  either  blown  or  cut  down, 
and  the  name  was  transferred  to  another.  A  few  of  the 
old  inhabitants  of  Cambridge  remember  the  stump  of  the 
former  Liberty  Tree,  but  all  traces  of  it  seem  to  have  been 
removed  before  the  year  1800.  The  present  Liberty  Tree 
stands  between  Holden  Chapel  and  Harvard  Hall,  to  the 
west  of  HoUis.  As  early  as  the  year  1815  there  were 
gatherings  under  its  branches  on  Class  Day,  and  it  is  proba- 
ble that  this  was  the  case  even  at  an  earlier  date.  At  pres- 
ent it  is  customary  for  the  members  of  the  Senior  Class,  at 
the  close  of  the  exercises  incident  to  Class  Day,  (the  day 
on  which  the  members  of  that  class  finish  their  collegiate 
studies,  and  retire  to  make  preparations  for  the  ensuing  Com- 
mencement,) after  cheering  the  buildings,  to  encircle  this 
tree,  and,  with  hands  joined,  to.  sing  their  favorite  ballad, 
"  Auld  Lang  Syne."  They  then  dance  around  it,  and  after- 
wards cheer  their  own  class,  the  other  classes,  and  many  of 
the  College  professors.  At  parting,  each  takes  a  sprig  or  a 
flower  from  the  beautiful  wreath  which  is  hung  around  the 
tree,  and  this  is  sacredly  preserved  as  a  last  memento  <af  the 
scenes  tmd  enjoyments  of  college  life. 

In  the  poem  delivered  before  the  Class' of  1849,  on  their 
Class  Day,  occur  the  following  beautiful  stanzas  in  memory 
of  departed  classmates,  in  which  reference  is  made  to  some 
of  the  customs  mentioned  above  :  — 

"  They  are  listening  now  to  our  parting  prayers  ; 
And  the  farewell  song  that  we  pour 
Their  distant  voices  will  echo 
From  the  far-off  spirit  shore ; 

**  And  the  wreath  that  we  break  with  our  scattered  band, 
As  it  twines  round  the  aged  elm,  — 
Its  fragments  we  '11  keep  with  a  sacred  hand, 
But  the  fragrance  shall  rise  to  them. 

**  So  to-day  we  will  dance  right  merrily. 

An  unbroken  band,  round  the  old  elm- tree ; 


AND    CUSTOMS.  187 

And  they  shall  not  ask  for  a  greener  shrine 
Than  the  hearts  of  the  class  of  '49." 

Its  grateful  shade  has  in  later  times  been  used  for  purposes 
similar  to  those  which  Hutchinson  records,  as  the  accompany- 
ing lines  will  show,  written  in  commemoration  of  the  Rebel- 
lion of  1819. 

**  Wreaths  to  the  chiefs  who  our  rights  have  defended  ; 
Hallowed  and  blessed  be  the  Liberty  Tree  : 
Where  Lenox  *  his  pies  'neath  its  shelter  hath  vended, 
We  Sophs  have  assembled,  and  sworn  to  be  free." 

The  Rebelliad,  p.  54. 
The  poet  imagines  the  spirits  of  the  different  trees  in  the 
College  yard  assembled  under  the  Liberty  Tree  to  utter  their 
sorrows. 

**  It  was  not  many  centuries  since. 

When  gathered  on  the  moonlit  green, 
Beneath  the  Tree  of  Liberty, 

A.  ring  of  weeping  sprites  was  seen." 

Meeting  of  the  Dryads, \  Holmes^ s  Poems,  p.  102. 

It  is  sometimes  called  "  the  Farewell  Tree,"  for  obvious 
reasons. 

**  Just  fifty  years  ago,  good  friends,  a  young  and  gallant  band 
Were  dancing  round  the  Farewell  Tree,  —  each  hand  in  comrade's 
hand." 

Song,  at  Semi-centennial  Anniversary  of  the  Class  of  1798. 

See  Class  Day. 

LITERARY  CONTESTS.  At  Jefferson  College,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, "  there  is,"  says  a  correspondent,  "  an  unusual 
interest  taken  in  the  two  literary  societies,  and  once  a  year  a 
challenge  is  passed  between  them,  to  meet  in  an  open  literary 
contest  upon  an  appointed  evening,  usually  that  preceding 
the  close  of  the  second  session.  The  contestors  are  a 
Debater,  an  Orator,  an  Essayist,  and  a  Declaimer,  elected 
from  each  society  by  the  majority,  some  time  previous  to 
their  public  appearance.  An  umpire  and  two  associate 
judges,  selected  either  by  the  societies  or  by  the  contestors 

*  A  black  man  who  sold  pies  and  cakes. 

t  Written  after  a  general  pruning  of  the  trees  around  Harvard  College. 


188  COLLEGE    WORDS 

themselves,  preside  over  the  performances,  and  award  the 
honors  to  those  whom  they  deem  most  worthy  of  them. 
The  greatest  excitement  prevails  upon  this  occasion,  and  an 
honor  thus  conferred  is  preferable  to  any  given  in  the  insti- 
tution." 

At  Washington  College,  in  Pennsylvania,  the  contest  per- 
formances are  conducted  upon  the  same  principle  as  at  Jef- 
ferson. 

LL.  B.  An  abbreviation  fbr  Legum  Baccalaureus^  Bachelor  of 
Laws.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  a  Bachelor  of 
Laws  must  be  an  A.  B.  of  six  years'  standing,  and  must  keep 
the  greater  part  of  several  terms.  The  exercise  is  one  act. 
In  American  colleges,  this  degree  is  conferred  on  students 
who  fulfil  the  conditions  of  the  statutes  of  the  law  school  to 
which  they  belong.  The  law  schools  in  the  different  col- 
leges are  regulated  on  this  point  by  different  rules,  but  in 
many  the  degree  of  LL.  B.  is  given  to  an  A.  B.  who  has 
been  a  member  of  a  law  school  for  a  year  and  a  half. 
See  B.  C.  L. 

LL.  D.  An  abbreviation  for  Legum  Doctor,  Doctor  of  Laws. 
In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  a  Doctor  of  Laws 
must  be  an  LL.  B.  of  five  years'  standing  ;  or  an  A.  M.  of 
seven.  The  exercises  are  two  acts  and  one  opponency.  In 
American  colleges,  this  degree  is  honorary,  and  is  conferred 
pro  meritis  on  those  who  are  distinguished  as  lawyers, 
statesmen,  &c. 
See  D.  C.  L. 

L.  M.  An  abbreviation  for  the  words  Licentiate  in  Medicine, 
At  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  an  L  M.  must  be  an 
M.  A.  or  M.  B.  of  two  years'  standing.  No  exercise,  but  ex- 
amination by  the  Professor  and  another  Doctor  in  the  Faculty. 

LOAF.  At  Princeton  College,  to  borrow  any  thing,  whether 
returning  it  or  not ;  usually  in  the  latter  sense. 

LONG  EAR.  At  Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvania,  a  student 
of  a  sober  or  religious  character  is  denominated  a  long  ear. 
The  opposite  is  short  ear. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  189 

LOTTERY.  The  method  of  obtaining  money  by  lottery  has 
at  different  times  been  adopted  in  several  of  our  American 
colleges.  In  1747,  a  new  building  being  wanted  at  Yale 
College,  the  "  Liberty  of  a  Lottery  "  was  obtained  from  the 
General  Assembly  *'  by  which,"  says  Clap,  "  Five  Hundred 
Pounds  Sterling  was  raised,  clear  of  all  Charge  and  Deduc- 
tions."—  Hist,  of  Yale  Coll.,  p.  55. 

This  sum  defrayed  one  third  of  the  expense  of  building 
what  was  then  called  Connecticut  Hall,  and  is  known  now 
by  the  name  of"  the  South  Middle  College." 

In  1772,  Harvard  College  being  in  an  embarrassed  con- 
dition, the  Legislature  granted  it  the  benefit  of  a  lottery  ;  in 
1794  this  grant  was  renewed,  and  for  the  purpose  of  enabling 
the  College  to  erect  an  additional  building.  The  proceeds 
of  the  lottery  amounted  to  $18,400,  which,  with  $5,300  from 
the  general  funds  of  the  College,  was  applied  to  the  erection 
of  Stoughton  Hall,  which  was  completed  in  1805.  In  1806 
the  Legislature  again  authorized  a  lottery,  which  enabled  the 
Corporation  in  1813  to  erect  a  new  building,  called  Hol- 
worthy  Hall,  at  an  expense  of  about  $  24,500,  the  lottery 
having  produced  about  $  29,000.  —  Quincy'^s  Hist,  of  Harv. 
Univ.,  Vol.  II.  pp.  162,  273,  292. 


M. 

MAKE  UP.  To  recite  a  lesson  which  was  not  recited  with 
the  class  at  the  regular  recitation.  It  is  properly  used  as  a 
transitive  verb,  but  in  conversation  is  very  often  used  intran- 
sitively. The  following  passage  explains  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase  more  fully. 

A  student  may  be  permitted,  on  petition  to  the  Faculty,  to  make 
up  a  recitation  or  other  exercise  from  which  he  was  absent  and  has 
been  excused,  provided  his  application  to  this  effect  be  made  within 
the  term  in  which  the  absence  occurred.  —  Laws  of  Univ.  at  Cam., 
Mass.,  1848,  p.  16. 


190  COLLEGE    WORDS 

sleeping,  —  a  luxury,  however,  which  is  sadly  dimin- 
ished by  the  anticipated  necessity  of  making  up  back  lessons.  — 
Harv.  Reg.,  p.  202. 

MAN.     An  undergraduate  in  a  university  or  college. 

At  Cambridge  and  eke  at  Oxford,  every  stripling  is  accounted  a 
Man  from  the  moment  of  his  putting  on  the  gown  and  cap. —  Gra- 
dus  ad  Cantab,,  p.  75. 

Sweet  are  the  slumbers,  indeed,  of  aFreshman,  who,  just  escaped 
the  trammels  of  *'  home,  sweet  home,"  and  the  pedagogue's  tyran- 
nical birch,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  with  the  academical  gown, 
assumes  the  toga  virilis,  and  feels  himself  a  Man,  —  Alma  Mater, 
Vol.  I.  p.  30. 

MANCIPLE.  Latin,  manceps ;  manu  capio,  to  take  with  the 
hand. 

In  the  English  universities,  the  person  who  purchases 
the  provisions  ;  the  college  victualler.  The  office  is  now 
obsolete. 

Our  Manciple  I  lately  met, 
Of  visage  wise  and  prudent. 

The  Student,  Vol.  I.  p.  115.,  Oxf.  and  Cam. 

MANNERS.  The  outward  observances  of  respect  which  were 
formerly  required  of  the  students  by  college  officers  seem 
very  strange  to  us  of  the  present  time,  and  we  cannot  but 
notice  the  omissions  which  fiave  been  made  in  college  laws 
during  the  present  century  in  reference  to  this  subject. 
Among  the  laws  of  Harvard  College,  passed  in  1734,  is  one 
declaring,  that  "all  scholars  shall  show  due  respect  and 
honor  in  speech  and  behavior,  as  to  their  natural  parents,  so 
to  magistrates,  elders,  the  President  and  Fellows  of  the  Cor- 
poration, and  to  all  others  concerned  in  the  instruction  or 
government  of  the  College,  and  to  all  superiors,  keeping  due 
silence  in  their  presence,  and  not  disorderly  gainsaying  them  ; 
but  showing  all  laudable  expressions  of  honor  and  reverence 
that  are  in  use  ;  such  as  uncovering  the  head,  rising  up  in 
their  presence,  and  the  like.  And  particularly  under- 
graduates shall  be  uncovered  in  the  College  yard  when  any 
of  the  Overseers,  the  President  or  Fellows  of  the  Corpo- 
ration, or  any  other  concerned  in  the  government  or  instruc- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  191 

tion  of  the  College,  are  therein,  and  Bachelors  of  Art  shall  be 
uncovered  when  the  President  is  there."  This  law  was 
still  further  enforced  by  some  of  the  regulations  contained 
in  a  list  of  "  The  Ancient  Customs  of  Harvard  College." 
Those  which  refer  particularly  to  this  point  are  the  fol- 
lowing :  — 

**  No  Freshman  shall  wear  his  hat  in  the  College  yard,  unless  it 
rains,  hails,  or  snows,  provided  he  be  on  foot,  and  have  not  both 
hands  full. 

"  No  Undergraduate  shall  wear  his  hat  in  the  College  yard, 
when  any  of  the  Governors  of  the  College  are  there  ;  and  no  Bach- 
elor shall  wear  his  hat  when  the  President  is  there. 

**  No  Freshman  shall  speak  to  a  Senior  with  his  hat  on  ;  or  have 
it  on  in  a  Senior's  chamber,  or  in  his  own,  if  a  Senior  be  there. 

*'  All  the  Undergraduates  shall  treat  those  in  the  government  of 
the  College  with  respect  and  deference  ;  particularly  they  shall  not 
be  seated  without  leave  in  their  presence  ;  they  shall  be  uncovered 
when  they  speak  to  them,  or  are  spoken  to  by  them." 

Such  were  the  laws  of  the  last  century,  and  their  observ- 
ance was  enforced  with  the  greatest  strictness.  After  the 
Revolution,  the  spirit  of  the  people  had  become  more  re- 
publican, and  about  the  year  1796,  "  considering  the  spirit 
of  the  times  and  the  extreme  difficulty  the  executive  must 
encounter  in  attempting  to  enforce  the  law  prohibiting  stu- 
dents from  wearing  hats  in  the  College  yard,"  a  vote  passed 
repealing  it.  —  Quincy'^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ,^  Vol.  II.  p.  278. 
"  In  connection  with  the  subject  of  discipline,"  says  Pres- 
ident Woolsey,  in  his  Historical  Discourse  before  the  Gradu- 
ates of  Yale  College,  "  we  may  aptly  introduce  that  of  the 
respect  required  by  the  officers  of  the  College,  and  of  the 
subordination  which  younger  classes  were  to  observe  towards 
older.  The  germ,  and  perhaps  the  details,  of  this  system  of 
college  manners,  is  to  be  referred  back  to  the  English  uni- 
versities. Thus  the  Oxford  laws  require  that  juniors  shall 
show  all  due  and  befitting  reverence  to  seniors,  that  is,  un- 
dergraduates to  Bachelors,  they  to  Masters,  Masters  to  Doc- 
tors, as  well  in  private  as  in  public,  by  giving  them  the 
better  place  when  they  are  together,  by  withdrawing  out  of 
their  way  when   they  meet,  by  uncovering  the  head  at  the 


192  COLLEGE    WORDS 

proper  distance,  and   by  reverently  saluting  and  addressing 
them." 

After  citing  the  law  of  Harvard  College  passed  in  1734, 
which  is  given  above,  he  remarks  as  follows.  ^  "  Our  laws 
of  1745  contain  the  same  identical  provisions.  These  regu- 
lations were  not  a  dead  letter,  nor  do  they  seem  to  have 
been  more  irksome  than  many  other  college  restraints. 
They  presupposed  originally  that  the  college  rank  of  the 
individual  towards  whom  respect  is  to  be  shown  could  be 
discovered  at  a  distance  by  peculiarities  of  dress;  the  gown 
and  the  wig  of  the  President  could  be  seen  far  beyond  the 
point  where  features  and  gait  would  cease  to  mark  the  per- 
son."—pp.  52,  53. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  severity  with  which  the  laws  on 
this  subject  were  enforced,  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to 
insert  the  annexed  account  from  the  Sketches  of  Yale  Col- 
lege :  — "  The  servile  requisition  of  making  obeisance  to 
the  officers  of  College  within  a  prescribed  distance  was 
common,  not  only  to  Yale,  but  to  all  kindred  institutions 
throughout  the  United  States.  Some  young  men  were 
found  whose  high  spirit  would  not  brook  the  degrading  law 
imposed  upon  them  without  some  opposition,  which,  howev- 
er, was  always  ineffectual.  The  following  anecdote,  related 
by  Hon.  Ezekiel  Bacon,  in  his  Recollections  of  Fifty  Years 
Since,  although  the  scene  of  its  occurrence  was  in  another 
college,  yet  is  thought  proper  to  be  inserted  here,  as  a  fair 
sample  of  the  insubordination  caused  in  every  institution  by 
an  enactment  so  absurd  and  degrading.  In  order  to  escape 
from  the  requirements  of  striking  his  colors  and  doffing  his 
chapeau  when  within  the  prescribed  striking  distance  from 
the  venerable  President  or  the  dignified  tutors,  young 
Ellsworth,  who  afterward  rose  to  the  honorable  rank  of 
Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  and  to  many  other  ele- 
vated stations  in  this  country,  and  who  was  then  a  student 
there,  cut  off  entirely  the  brim  portion  of  his  hat,  leaving  of 
it  nothing  but  the  crown,  which  he  wore  in  the  form  of  a 
skull-cap  on  his  head,  putting  it  under  his  arm  when  he 
approached  their  reverences.     Being  reproved  for  his  per- 


AND   CUSTOMS.  198 

versity,  and  told  that  this  was  not  a  hat  within  the  meaning 
and  intent  of  the  law,  which  he  was  required  to  do  his  obei- 
sance with,  by  removing  it  from  his  head,  he  then  made 
bold  to  wear  his  skull-cap  into  the  Chapel  and  recitation- 
room,  in  presence  of  the  authority.  Being  also  then  again 
reproved  for  wearing  his  hat  in  those  forbidden  and  sacred 
places,  he  replied  that  he  had  once  supposed  that  it  was  in 
truth  a  veritable  hat,  but  having  been  informed  by  his  supe- 
riors that  it  was  no  hat  at  all,  he  had  ventured  to  come  into 
their  presence  as  he  supposed  with  his  head  uncovered  by 
that  proscribed  garment.  But  the  dilemma  was,  as  in  his 
former  position,  decided  against  him  ;  and  no  other  alterna- 
tive remained  to  him  but  to  resume  his  full-brimmed  beaver,, 
and  to  comply  literally  with  the  enactments  of  the  collegiate 
pandect."  —  pp.  179,  180. 

MAEK.  The  figure  given  to  denote  the  quality  of  a  recita- 
tion. In  most  colleges  the  merit  of  each  performance  is  ex- 
pressed by  some  number  of  a  series,  in  which  a  certain^ 
fixed  number  indicates  the  highest  value. 

In  Harvard  College  the  highest  mark  is  eight.  Four  is; 
considered  as  the  average,  and  a  student  not  receiving  this^ 
average  in  all  the  studies  of  a  term  is  not  allowed  to  re- 
main as  a  member  of  college.  At  Yale  the  marks  range 
from  zero  to  four.  Two  is  the  average,  and  a  student  not 
receiving  this  is  obliged  to  leave  College,  not  to  return^ 
until  he  can  pass  an  examination  in  all  the  branches  which: 
his  class  has  pursued. 

In  Harvard  College,  where  the  system  of  marks  is  most 
strictly  followed,  the  merit  of  each  individual  is  ascertained 
by  adding  together  the  term  aggregates  of  each  instructor, 
these  "  term  aggregates  being  the  sum  of  all  the  marks- 
given  during  the  term,  for  the  current  work  of  each  month,, 
for  omitted  lessons  made  up  by  permission,  and  of  the 
marks  given  for  examination  by  the  instructor  and  the  ex- 
amining committee  at  the  close  of  the  term."  From  the- 
aggregate  of  these  numbers  deductions  are  made  for  delin- 
quencies unexcused,  and  the  result  is  the  rank  of  the  student,, 
17 


194  COLLEGE    WORDS 

according  to  which  his  appointment  (if  he  receives  one)  is 

given.  —  Laws  Univ.  at  Cam.^  Mass.,  1848. 
That  's  the  way  to  stand  in  college 
High  in  "  marks,^^  and  want  of  knowledge  ! 

Childe  Harvard^  p.  154. 

MARKER.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  three 
or  four  persons  called  markers  are  employed  to  walk  up  and 
down  chapel  during  a  considerable  part  of  the  service,  with 
lists  of  the  names  of  the  members  in  their  hands ;  they  are 
required  to  run  a  pin  through  the  names  of  those  present. 

MARSHAL.  In  the  University  of  Oxford,  an  officer  who  is 
usually  in  attendance  on  one  of  the  proctors.  —  Collegian's 
Guide, 

MASQUERADE.  It  was  formerly  the  custom  at  Harvard 
College  for  the  Tutors,  on  leaving  their  office,  to  invite  their 
friends  to  a  masquerade  ball,  which  was  held  at  some  time 
during  the  vacation,  usually  in  the  rooms  which  they  occu- 
pied in  the  College  buildings.  One  of  the  most  splendid 
entertainments  of  this  kind  was  given  by  Mr.  Kirkland,  after- 
wards President  of  the  College,  in  the  year  1794.  The 
same  custom  also  prevailed  to  a  certain  extent  among  the 
students,  and  these  balls  were  not  wholly  discontinued  until 
the  year  1811.  After  this  period,  members  of  societies 
would  often  appear  in  masquerade  dresses  in  the  streets, 
and  would  sometimes  in  this  garb  enter  houses,  with  the 
occupants  of  which  they  were  not  acquainted,  thereby  caus- 
ing much  sport,  and  not  unfrequently  much  mischief. 

MASTER.  The  president  of  a  college.  This  word  is  used 
in  England,  and  was  formerly  in  use  in  this  country,  in  this 
sense. 

Every  schollar,  that  on  proofs  is  found  able  to  read  the  originals 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  into  the  Latine  tongue,  &c.  and  at 
any  publick  act  hath  the  approbation  of  the  Overseers  and  Master 
of  the  Colledge,  is  fit  to  be  dignified  with  his  first  degree. —  New 
England's  First  Fruits,  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  Vol.  I.  pp.  245,  246. 
2.  A  title  of  dignity  in  colleges  and  universities  ;  as,  Mas^ 
ter  of  Arts.  —  Webster. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  *  195 

They,  likewise,  which  peruse  the  questiones  published  by  the 
Masters.  — Mather's  Magnalia,  B.  IV.  pp.  131,  132. 

MASTER  OF  THE  KITCHEN.  In  Harvard  College,  a  per- 
son who  formerly  made  all  the  contracts,  and  performed  all 
the  duties  necessary  for  the  providing  of  commons,  under 
the  direction  of  the  Steward.  He  was  required  to  be  "  dis- 
creet and  capable."  —  Laws  of  Harv.  Coll.^  1814,  p.  42. 

MASTER'S  QUESTION.  A  proposition  advanced  by  a  can- 
didate for  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

In  the  older  American  colleges  it  seems  to  have  been  the 
established  custom,  at  a  very  early  period,  for  those  who  pro- 
ceeded Masters,  to  maintain  in  public  questions  or  proposi- 
tions on  scientific  or  moral  topics.  Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  in  his 
Magnalia^  p.  132,  referring  to  Harvard  College,  speaks  of 
"  the  questiones  published  by  the  Masters,"  and  remarks  that 
they  "  now  and  then  presume  to  fly  as  high  as  divinity." 
These  questions  were  in  Latin,  and  the  discussions  upon 
them  were  carried  on  in  the  same  language.  The  earliest 
list  of  Masters'  questions  extant  was  published  at  Harvard 
College  in  the  year  1655.     It  was  entitled,  "  Quaestiones  in 

Philosophia   Discutiendae in  comitiis   per   Inceptores 

in  artib[us].  In  1669  the  title  was  changed  to  "  Quaestio- 
nes pro  modulo  discutiendae per  inceptores."     The 

last  Masters'  questions  were  presented  at  the  Commence- 
ment in  1789.  The  next  year  Masters'  exercises  were  sub- 
stituted, which  usually  consisted  of  an  English  Oration,  a 
Poem,  and  a  Valedictory  Latin  Oration,  delivered  by  three 
out  of  the  number  of  candidates  for  the  second  degree.  A 
few  years  after,  the  Poem  was  omitted.  The  last  Masters' 
exercises  were  performed  in  the  year  1843.  At  Yale  Col- 
lege, from  1787  onwards,  there  were  no  Masters'  valedic- 
tories, nor  syllogistic  disputes  in  Latin,  and  in  1793  there 
were  no  Masters'  exercises  at  all. 

MATHEMATICAL  SLATE.  At  Harvard  College,  the  best 
mathematician  received  in  former  times  a  large  slate,  which, 
on  leaving  college,  he  gave  to  the  best  mathematician  in  the 
next  class,  and  thus  transmitted  it  from  class  to  class.     The 


196  *  COLLEGE    WORDS 

slate  disappeared  a  few  years  since,  and  the  custom  is  no 
longer  observed. 

MATRICULA.  A  roll  or  register,  fronn  matrix.  In  colleges 
the  register  or  record  which  contains  the  names  of  the  stu- 
dents, times  of  entrance  into  college,  remarks  on  their  char- 
acter, &c. 

The  remarks  made  in  the  Matricula  of  the  College  respecting 
those  who  entered  the  Freshman  Class  together  with  him  are,  of 
one,  that  he  *'  in  his  third  year  went  to  Philadelphia  College."  — 
Hist,  Sketch  of  Columbia  College,  p.  42. 

Similar  brief  remarks  are  found  throughout  the  Matricula  of 
King's  College.  —  Ibid.,  p.  42. 

We  find  in  its  Matricula  the  names  of  William  Walton,  &c. — 
Ibid.,  p.  64. 

MATRICULATE.  Latin,  Matricula,  a  roll  or  register,  from 
matrix.  To  enter  or  admit  to  membership  in  a  body  or 
society,  particularly  in  a  college  or  university,  by  enrolling 
the  name  in  a  register.  —  Wotton. 

In  July,  1778,  he  was  examined  at  that  unirersity,  and  matricu- 
lated, —  Works  of  R,  T.  Paine,  Biography,  p.  xviii. 

In  1787,  he  matriculated  at  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge. — 
Household  Words,  Vol.  I.  p.  210. 

MATRICULATE.  One  enrolled  in  a  register,  and  thus  ad- 
mitted to  membership  in  a  society.  —  Arhuthnot. 

The  number  of  Matriculates  has  in  every  instance  been  greater 
than  that  stated  in  the  table.  —  Cat,  Univ.  of  North  Carolina, 
1848  -  49. 

MATRICULATION.  The  act  of  registering  a  name  and  ad- 
mitting to  membership.  —  Ayliffe. 

In  American  colleges,  students  who  are  found  qualified  on 
examination  to  enter,  usually  join  the  class  to  which  they  are 
admitted,  on  probation,  and  are  matriculated  as  members  of 
the  college  in  full  standing,  either  at  the  close  of  their  first  or 
second  term.  The  time  of  probation  seldom  exceeds  one 
year  ;  and  if  at  the  end  of  this  time,  or  of  a  shorter,  as  the 
case  may  be,  the  conduct  of  a  student  has  not  been  such 
as  is  deemed  satisfactory  by  the  Faculty,  his  connection  with 


AND    CUSTOMS.  197 

the  college  ceases.  As  a  punishment,  the  matriculation  cer* 
/i^ca^e  of  a  student  is  sometimes  taken  from  him,  and  dur- 
ing the  time  in  which  he  is  unmatriculated,  he  is  under  espe- 
cial probation,  and  disobedience  to  college  laws  is  then  pun- 
ished with  more  severity  than  at  other  times.  —  Laivs  Univ, 
at  Cam.  Mass.,  1848,  p.  12.     Laws  Yale  Coll.,  1837,  p.  9. 

MAUDLIN.  The  name  by  which  Magdalen  College,  Cam- 
bridge, England,  is  always  known  and  spoken  of  by  Eng- 
lishmen. 

The  **  Maudlin  Men  "  were  at  one  time  so  famous  for  tea-drink- 
ing, that  the  Cam,  which  licks  the  very  walls  of  the  college,  is  said 
to  have  been  absolutely  rendered  unnavigable  with  tea-leaves. — 
Alma  Mater,  Vol.  II.  p.  202. 

MAX.  Abbreviated  for  maximum,  greatest.  At  Union  Col- 
lege, he  who  receives  the  highest  possible  number  of  marks, 
which  is  one  hundred,  in  each  study,  for  a  term,  is  said  to 
take  Max  (or  maximum) ;  to  be  a  Max  scholar.  On  the 
Merit  Roll  all  the  Maxs  are  clustered  at  the  top. 
See  Merit  Roll. 

MAY  TRAINING.  A  correspondent  from  Bowdoin  College, 
where  the  farcical  custom  of  May  Training  is  observed, 
writes  as  follows  in  reference  to  its  origin :  "  In  1836,  a 
law  passed  the  Legislature  requiring  students  to  perform 
military  duty,  and  they  were  summoned  to  appear  at  muster, 
equipped  as  the  law  directs,  to  be  inspected  and  drilled  with 
the  common  militia.  Great  excitement  prevailed  in  conse- 
quence, but  they  finally  concluded  to  train.  At  the  ap- 
pointed time  and  place,  they  made  their  appearance  armed 
cap-d-pie  for  grotesque  deeds,  some  on  foot,  some  on  horse, 
with  banners  and  music  appropriate,  and  altogether  present- 
ing as  ludicrous  a  spectacle  as  could  easily  be  conceived  of. 
They  paraded   pretty  much  '  on  their  own  hook,'  threw  the 

V  whole  field  into  disorder  by  their  evolutions,  and  were  finally 
ordered  off  the  ground  by  the  commanding  officer.  They  were 
never  called  upon  again,  but  the  day  is  still  commemorated." 

M.  B.    An  abbreviation  for  Medicince,  Baccalaureus,  Bachelor 
of  Physic.     At  Cambridge,  England,  an  M.  B.  must  keep 
17* 


m 


COLLEGE    WORDS 


the  greater  part  of  nine  several  terms,  and  may  be  admitted 
any  time  after  the  sixth  year  from  the  degree  of  A.  B.  The 
exercises  are  one  act  and  one  opponency.  At  Oxford,  Eng- 
land, the  degree  is  given  to  an  A.  M.  of  one  year's  standing. 
The  exercises  are  disputations  upon  two  distinct  days  before 
the  Professors  of  the  Faculty  of  Medicine.  The  degree  was 
formerly  given  in  American  colleges  before  that  of  M.  D., 
but  has  of  late  years  been  laid  aside. 

M.  D.  An  abbreviation  for  MedicincB  Doctor^  Doctor  of  Physic. 
At  Cambridge,  England,  an  M.  D.  is  bound  to  the  same 
regulations  as  an  LL.  D.  At  Oxford,  an  M.  D.  must  be  an 
M.  B.  of  three  years'  standing.  The  exercises  are  three  dis- 
tinct lectures,  to  be  read  on  three  different  days.  In  Ameri- 
can colleges  the  degree  is  usually  given  to  those  who  have 
pursued  their  studies  in  a  medical  school  for  three  years  ; 
but  the  regulations  differ  in  different  institutions. 

MED,      )      A  name  sometimes  given  to  a  student  in  medi- 
MEDIC.  \  cine. 

Seniors,  Juniors,  Freshmen  blue, 

And  medics  sing  the  anthem  too. 

Yale  Banger,  Nov.,  1850. 

MEDALIST.  In  universities,  colleges,  &c.,  one  who  has  gained 
a  medal  as  the  reward  of  merit.  —  Ed,  Rev,  Gradus  ad 
Cantah. 

MEDICAL  FACULTY.  Usually  abbreviated  Med.  Fac.  The 
Medical  Faculty  Society  was  established  one  evening  after 
commons,  in  the  year  1818,  by  four  students  of  Harvard 
College,  James  F.  Deering,  Charles  Butterfield,  David  P. 
Hall,  and  Joseph  Palmer,  members  of  the  class  of  1820. 
Like  many  other  societies,  it  originated  in  sport,  and,  as  its 
after  history  shows,  was  carried  on  in  the  same  spirit.  The 
young  men  above  named  happening  to  be  assembled  in 
Hollis  Hall,  No.  13,  a  proposition  was  started  that  Deering 
should  deliver  a  mock  lecture,  which  having  been  done,  to 
the  great  amusement  of  the  rest,  he  in  his  turn  proposed  that 
they  should  at  some  future  time  initiate  members  by  solemn 
rites,  in  order  that  others  might  enjoy  their  edifying  exer- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  199 

cises.  From  this  small  beginning  sprang  the  renowned 
Med.  Fac.  Society.  Deering,  a  "  fellow  of  infinite  jest,"  was 
chosen  its  first  President ;  he  was  much  esteemed  fc*r  his 
talents,  but  died  early,  the  victim  of  melancholy  madness. 

The  following  entertaining  account  of  the  early  history  of 
this  Society  has  been  kindly  furnished,  in  a  letter  to  the 
editor,  by  a  distinguished  gentleman  who  was  its  President 
in  the  year  1820,  and  a  graduate  of  the  class  of  1822. 

"  With  regard  to  the  Medical .  Faculty,"  he  writes,  "  I 
suppose  that  you  are  aware  that  its  object  was  mere  fun. 
That  object  was  pursued  with  great  diligence  during  the 
earlier  period  of  its  history,  and  probably  through  its  whole 
existence.  I  do  not  remember  that  it  ever  had  a  constitution, 
or  any  stated  meetings,  except  the  annual  one  for  the  choice 
of  officers.  Frequent  meetings,  however,  were  called  by  the 
President  to  carry  out  the  object  of  the  institution.  They 
were  held  always  in  some  student's  room  in  the  afternoon. 
The  room  was  made  as  dark  as  possible,  and  brilliantly 
lighted.  The  Faculty  sat  round  a  long  table,  in  some  sin- 
gular and  antique  costume,  almost  all  in  large  wigs,  and 
breeches  with  knee-buckles.  This  practice  was  adopted  to 
make  a  strong  impression  on  students  who  were  invited  in 
for  examination.  Members  were  always  examined  for  ad- 
mission. The  strangest  questions  were  asked  by  the  ven- 
erable board,  and  often  strange  answers  elicited,  —  no  matter 
how  remote  from  the  purpose,  provided  there  was  wit  or 
drollery.  Sometimes  a  singularly  slow  person  would  be  in- 
vited, on  purpose  to  puzzle  and  tease  him  with  questions  that 
he  could  make  nothing  of;  and  he  would  stand  in  helpless 
imbecility,  without  being  able  to  cover  his  retreat  with  even 
the  faintest  suspicion  of  a  joke.  He  would  then  be  gravely 
admonished  of  the  necessity  of  diligent  study,  reminded  of 
the  anxieties  of  his  parents  on  his  account,  and  his  duty  to 
them,  and  at  length  a  month  or  two  would  be  allowed  him 
to  prepare  himself  for  another  examination,  or  he  would  be 
set  aside  altogether.  But  if  he  appeared  again  for  another 
trial,  he  was  sure  to  fare  no  better.  He  would  be  set  aside 
at  last.     I  remember  an  instance  in  which  a  member  was 


200  COLLEGE    WORDS 

expelled  for  a  reason  purely  fictitious,  —  droll  enough  to  be 
worth  telling,  if  I  could  remember  it,  —  and  the  secretary 
directed  *  to  write  to  his  father,  and  break  the  matter  gently 
to  him,  that  it  might  not  bring  down  the  gray  hairs  of  the 
old  man  with  sorrow  to  the  grave.' 

"  I  have  a  pleasant  recollection  of  the  mock  gravity,  the 
broad  humor,  and  often  exquisite  wit  of  those  meetings,  but 
it  is  impossible  to  give  you  any  adequate  idea  of  them. 
Burlesque  lectures  on  all  conceivable  and  inconceivable  sub- 
jects were  frequently  read  or  improvised  by  members  ad 
libitum.  I  remember  something  of  a  remarkable  one  from 
Dr.  Alden,  upon  part  of  a  skeleton  of  a  superannuated 
horse,  which  he  made  to  do  duty  for  the  remains  of  a  great 
German  Professor  with  an  unspeakable  name. 

"  Degrees  were  conferred  upon  all  the  members,  —  M.  D. 
or  D.  M.,*  according  to  their  rank,  which  is  explained  in  the 
Catalogue.  Honorary  degrees  were  liberally  conferred  upon 
conspicuous  persons  at  home  and  abroad.  It  is  said  that 
one  gentleman,  at  the  South,  I  believe,  considered  himself 
insulted  by  the  honor,  and  complained  of  it  to  the  College 
government,  who  forthwith  broke  up  the  Society.  But  this 
was  long  after  my  time,  and  I  cannot  answer  for  the  truth 
of  the  tradition.  Diplomas  were  given  to  the  M.  D.'s  and 
D.  M.'s  in  ludicrous  Latin,  with  a  great  seal  appended  by  a 
green  ribbon.  I  have  one,  somewhere.  My  name  is  ren- 
dered Filius  Steti.'*^ 

A  graduate  of  the  class  of  1828  writes  :  "  I  well  remem- 
ber that  my  invitation  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Med. 
Fac.  Soc.  was  written  in  barbarous  Latin,  commencing 
'  Domine  Crux,'  and  I  think  I  passed  so  good  an  examina- 
tion that  I  was  made  Professor  longis  extremitatihus^  or 
Professor  with  long  shanks.  It  was  a  society  for  purposes 
of  mere  fun  and  burlesque,  meeting  secretly,  and  always 
foiling  the  government  in  their  attempts  to  break  it  up." 

The  members  of  the  Society  were  accustomed  to  array 
themselves  in  masquerade  dresses,  and  in  the  evening  would 

*  Doctor  of  Medicine  or  Student  of  Medicine. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  205 

ill  show  with  how  much  fidelity  we  have  performed  the  task  im- 
)sed  upon  us  by  the  most  illustrious  men.     Farewell." 

As  a  specimen  of  the  character  of  the  honorary  degrees 
onferred  by  the  Society,  the  following  are  taken  from  the 
St  given  in  the  Catalogues.  They  embrace,  as  will  be 
een,  the  names  of  distinguisheci,  personages  only,  from  the 
[ing  and  President  to  Day  and  Martin,  Sam  Patch,  and  the 
/orld-renowned  Sea  Serpent. 

"  Henricus  Christophe,  Rex  Haytise  quondam,  M.  D.  Med. 
''ac.  honorarius."  * 

"Gulielmus  Cobbett,  qui  ad  Angliam  ossa  Thomse  Paine  ^ 
erebat,  M.  D.  Med.  Fac.  honorarius."  t 

"Johannes-Cleaves  Symmes,  qui  in  terrae  ilia  penetravissit, 
A.  D.  Med.  Fac.  honorarius."  | 

"  Alexander  I.  Russ.  Imp.  Illust.  et  Sanct.  Feed,  et  Mass. 
^ac.  Soc.  Socius,  qui  per  Legat.  American,  claro  Med.  Fac, 
curiositatem  raram  et  archaicam^^  regie  transmisit,  1824, 
H,  D.  Med.  Fac.  honorarius."  § 

"  Andreas  Jackson,  Major-General  in  bello  ultimo  Amer- 
3ano,  et  Nov.  Orleans  Heros  fortissimus  ;  et  ergo  nunc  Prae- 
idis  Rerumpub.  Feed,  muneris  candidatus  et  'Old  Hickory,' 
1.  D.  et  M.  U.  D.  1827,  Med.  Fac.  honorarius,  et  1829  Prse- 
es  Rerumpub.  Feed.,  et  LL.  D.  1833." 

"  Gulielmus  Emmons,  Praenominatus  PickleYus,  qui  orator 
loquentissimus  nostrae  aetatis  ;  poma,  nuces,  panem-zingihe- 
is,  suas  orationes,  '  Egg-popque '  vendit,  D.  M.  Med.  Fac. 
onorarius."  11 


*  Christophe,  the  black  Prince  of  Hayti. 

t  It  is  said  he  carried  the  bones  of  Tom  Paine,  the  infidel,  to  Eng- 

id,  to  make  money  by  exhibiting'  them,  but  some   difficulty  arising 

out  the  duty  on  them,  he  threw  them  overboard. 

t  He  promulgated  a  theory  that  the   earth  was  hollow,  and  that 

5re  was  an  entrance  to  it  at  the  North  Pole. 

§  Alexander  the  First  of  Russia  was  elected  a  member,  and,  suppos- 

;  the  society  to  be  an  honorable  one,  forwarded  to  it  a  valuable  pres- 

I  He  made  speeches  on  the  Fourth  of  July  at  five  or  six  o'clock  in 
morning,  and  had  them  printed  and  ready  for  sale,  as  soon  as  deliv- 
18 


200  COLLEGE    WORDS 

expelled  for  a  reason  purely  fictitious,  —  droll  enough  tc 
worth  telling,  if  I  could  remember  it,  —  and  the  secre 
directed  *  to  write  to  his  father,  and  break  the  matter  ge 
to  him,  that  it  might  not  bring  down  the  gray  hairs  of 
old  man  with  sorrow  to  the  grave.' 

"  1  have  a  pleasant  recollection  of  the  mock  gravity, 
broad  humor,  and  often  exquisite  wit  of  those  meetings, 
it  is  impossible  to  give  you  any  adequate  idea  of  th« 
Burlesque  lectures  on  all  conceivable  and  inconceivable  s 
jects  were  frequently  read  or  improvised  by  members 
libitum.  I  remember  something  of  a  remarkable  one  fi 
Dr.  Alden,  upon  part  of  a  skeleton  of  a  superannua 
horse,  which  he  made  to  do  duty  for  the  remains  of  a  gi 
German  Professor  with  an  unspeakable  name. 

"  Degrees  were  conferred  upon  all  the  members,  —  M. 
or  D.  M.,*  according  to  their  rank,  which  is  explained  in 
Catalogue.  Honorary  degrees  were  liberally  conferred  u] 
conspicuous  persons  at  home  and  abroad.  It  is  said  t 
one  gentleman,  at  the  South,  I  believe,  considered  him; 
insulted  by  the  honor,  and  complained  of  it  to  the  Colh 
government,  who  forthwith  broke  up  the  Society.  But  1 
was  long  after  my  time,  and  I  cannot  answer  for  the  tr 
of  the  tradition.  Diplomas  were  given  to  the  M.  D.'s  { 
D.  M.'s  in  ludicrous  Latin,  with  a  great  seal  appended  b 
green  ribbon.  I  have  one,  somewhere.  My  name  is  r 
dered  Filiiis  Steti^ 

A  graduate  of  the  class  of  1828  writes  :  "  I  well  remt 
her  that  my  invitation  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  IVI 
Fac.  Soc.  was  written  in  barbarous  Latin,  commenc 
'  Domine  Crux,'  and  I  think  I  passed  so  good  an  exami 
tion  that  I  was  made  Professor  longis  extremitatihus^ 
Professor  with  long  shanks.  It  was  a  society  for  purpc 
of  mere  fun  and  burlesque,  meeting  secretly,  and  alw 
foiling  the  government  in  their  attempts  to  break  it  up." 

The  members  of  the  Society  were  accustomed  to  ai 
themselves  in  masquerade  dresses,  and  in  the  evening  w( 

*  Doctor  of  Medicine  or  Student  of  Medicine. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  205 

will  show  with  how  much  fidelity  we  have  performed  the  task  im- 
posed upon  us  by  the  most  illustrious  men.     Farewell." 

As  a  specimen  of  the  character  of  the  honorary  degrees 
conferred  by  the  Society,  the  following  are  taken  from  the 
list  given  in  the  Catalogues.  They  embrace,  as  will  be 
seen,  the  names  of  distinguisheci,  personages  only,  from  the 
King  and  President  to  Day  and  Martin,  Sam  Patch,  and  the 
world-renowned  Sea  Serpent. 

"  Henricus  Christophe,  Rex  Haytise  quondam,  M.  D.  Med. 
Fac.  honorarius."  * 

"Gulielmus  Cobbett,  qui  ad  Angliam  ossa  Thomse  Paine  f 
ferebat,  M.  D.  Med.  Fac.  honorarius."  t 

"Johannes-Cleaves  Symmes,  qui  in  terrse  ilia  penetravissit, 
M.  D.  Med.  Fac.  honorarius."  | 

"  Alexander  I.  Russ.  Imp.  Illust.  et  Sanct.  Feed,  et  Mass. 
Pac.  Soc.  Socius,  qui  per  Legat.  American,  claro  Med.  Fac, 
'  curiositatem  raram  et  archaicam^^  regie  transmisit,  1824, 
M.  D.  Med.  Fac.  honorarius."  § 

"  Andreas  Jackson,  Major-General  in  hello  ultimo  Amer- 
icano, et  Nov.  Orleans  Heros  fortissimus  ;  et  ergo  nunc  Prae- 
sidis  Rerumpub.  Feed,  muneris  candidatus  et  'Old  Hickory,' 
M.  D.  et  M.  U.  D.  1827,  Med.  Fac.  honorarius,  et  1829  Free- 
ses  Rerumpub.  Feed.,  et  LL.  D.  1833." 

"  Gulielmus  Emmons,  Prsenominatus  PickleYus,  qui  orator 
eloquentissimus  nostrse  setatis  ;  poma,  nuces,  panem-zingibe- 
ris,  suas  oraliones,  '  Egg-popque '  vendit,  D.  M.  Med.  Fac. 
honorarius."  11 


*  Christophe,  the  black  Prince  of  Hayti. 

t  It  is  said  he  carried  the  bones  of  Tom  Paine,  the  infidel,  to  Eng- 
land, to  make  money  by  exhibiting'  them,  but  some  difficulty  arising 
about  the  duty  on  them,  he  threw  them  overboard. 

t  He  promulgated  a  theory  that  the  earth  was  hollow,  and  that 
there  was  an  entrance  to  it  at  the  North  Pole. 

§  Alexander  the  First  of  Russia  was  elected  a  member,  and,  suppos- 
ing the  society  to  be  an  honorable  one,  forwarded  to  it  a  valuable  pres- 
ent. 

II  He  made  speeches  on  the  Fourth  of  July  at  five  or  six  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  had  them  printed  and  ready  for  sale,  as  soon  as  deliv- 
18 


206  COLLEGE   WORDS 

"  Day  et  Martin,  Angli,  qui  per  quinquaginta  annos  toto 
Christiano  Orbi  et  prsecipue  Univ.  Harv.  optimum  Real 
Japan  Atramentum  ab  'XCVII.  Alta  Holbornia'  submini- 
strarunt,  M.  D.  et  M.  U.  D.  Med.  Fac.  honorarius." 

"  Samuel  Patch,  socius  multum  deploratus,  qui  multa  ex- 
perimenta  de  gravitate  et  *  faciles  descensus '  suo  corpore 
fecit ;  qui  gradum,  M.  D.  per  saltum  consecutus  est.  Med. 
Fac.  honorarius." 

"  Cheng  et  Heng,  Siamesi  juvenes,  invicem  a  mans  et 
intime  attacti,  Med.  Fac.  que  honorarii." 

"  Gulielmus  Grimke,  et  quadraginta  sodales  qui  '  omnes 
in  uno '  Conic  Sections  sine  Tabulis  aspernati  sunt,  et  contra 
Facultatem,  Col.  Yal.  rebellaverunt,  posteaque  expuisi  et 
'obumbrati'  sunt  et  Med.  Fac.  honorarii." 

"  Martin  Van  Buren,  Armig.  Civitatis  Scriba  Reipub. 
Foed.  apud  Aul.  Brit.  Legat.  Extraord.  sibi  constitutus.  Reip. 
Nov.  Ebor.  Gub.  '  Don  Whiskerandos ' ;  '  Little  Dutchman ' ; 
atque  'Great  Rejected.'  Nunc  (1832),  Rerumpub.  Feed. 
Vice-Prseses  et  '  Kitchen  Cabinet '  Moderator,  M.  D.  et  Med. 
Fac.  honorarius." 

"  Magnus  Serpens  Maris,  suppositus,  aut  porpoises  aut 
horse-mackerel,  grex  ;  '  very  like  a  whale  '  (Shak.) ;  M.  D. 
et  peculiariter  M.  U.  D.  Med.  Fac.  honorarius." 

"  Timotheus  Tibbets  et  Gulielmus  J.  Snelling  '  par  nobile 
sed  hostile  fratrum  ' ;  '  victor  et  victus,'  unus  buster  et  rake, 
alter  lupinarum  cockpitsque  purgator,  et  nuper  Edit.  Nov. 
Ang.  Galax.  Med.  Fac.  honorarii."  * 

"  Capt.  Basil  Hall,  Tabitha  Trollope,  atque  Isaacus  Fid- 
dler Reverendus ;  semi-pay  centurio,  famelica  transfuga,  et 
semicoctus  grammaticaster,  qui  scriptitant  solum  ut  prandere 
possint.  Tres  in  uno  Mend.  Munch.  Prof.  M.  D.,  M.  U.  D. 
et  Med.  Fac.  Honorariwm." 

A  college  poet  thus  laments  the  fall  of  this  respected  so- 
ciety :  — 

ered,  from  his  cart  on  Boston  Common,  from  which  he  sold  various 
articles. 

♦  Tibbets,  a  gambler,  was  attacked  by  Snelling  through  the  columns 
of  the  New  England  Galaxy. 


AND  CUSTOMS. 


2« 


**  Gone,  too,  for  aye,  that  merry  masquerade, 
Which  danced  so  gayly  in  the  evening  shade, 
And  learning  weeps,  and  science  hangs  her  head. 
To  mourn  —  vain  toil !  —  their  cherished  offspring  dead. 
What  though  she  sped  her  honors  wide  and  far, 
Hailing  as  son  Muscovia's  haughty  Czar, 
Who  in  his  palace  humbly  knelt  to  greet, 
And  laid  his  costly  presents  at  her  feet  1  * 
Relentless  fate  her  sudden  fall  decreed. 
Dooming  each  votary's  tender  heart  to  bleed, 
And  yet,  as  if  in  mercy  to  atone, 
That  fate  hushed  sighs,  and  silenced  many  a  groan.''^ 

Winslow^s  Class  Poem,  1835. 

MERIT  ROLL.  At  Union  College,  "  the  Merit  Rolls  of  the 
several  classes,"  says  a  correspondent,  "  are  sheets  of  paper 
put  up  in  the  College  post-office,  at  [the  opening  of  each 
term,  containing  a  list  of  all  students  present  in  the  different 
classes  during  the  previous  term,  with  a  statement  of  the 
conduct,  attendance,  and  scholarship  of  each  member  of  the 
class.  The  names  are  numbered  according  to  the  standing 
of  the  student,  all  the  best  scholars  being  clustered  at  the 
head,  and  the  poorer  following  in  a  melancholy  train.  To 
be  at  the  head,  or  '  to  head  the  roll,'  is  an  object  of  ambition, 
while  '  to  foot  the  roll '  is  any  thing  but  desirable." 

MIDDLE  BACHELOR.  One  who  is  in  his  second  year 
after  taking  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 

A  Senior  Sophister  has  authority  to  take  a  Freshman  from  a 
Sophomore,  a  Middle  Bachelor  from  a  Junior  Sophister. —  Quincy^s 
Hist,  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  II.  p.  540. 

MINGO.  Latin.  At  Harvard  College,  this  word  was  formerly 
used  to  designate  a  chamber-pot. 

To  him  that  occupies  my  study, 
I  give  for  use  of  making  toddy, 
A  bottle  full  of  white-face  Stingo, 
Another,  handy,  called  a  mingo. 
Will  of  Charles  Prentiss,  in  Rural  Repository,  1795. 

Many  years  ago,  some  of  the  students  of  Harvard  College, 

*  Referring  to  the  degree  given  to  the  Russian  Alexander,  and  the 
present  received  in  return. 


208  COLLEGE    WORDS 

wishing  to  make  a  present  to  their  Tutor,  Mr.  Flynt,  called 
on  him,  informed  him  of  their  intention,  and  requested  him 
to  select  a  gift  which  would  be  acceptable  to  him.  He  re- 
plied that  he  was  a  single  man,  that  he  already  had  a  well- 
filled  library,  and  in  reality  wanted  nothing.  The  students, 
not  all  satisfied  with  this  answer,  determined  to  present  him 
with  a  silver  chamber-pot.  One  was  accordingly  made  of 
the  appropriate  dimensions,  and  inscribed  with  these  words  : 

"  Mingere  cum  bombis 
Res  est  saluberrima  lumbis." 

On  the  morning  of  Commencement  Day,  this  was  borne 
in  procession  in  a  morocco  case,  and  presented  to  the  Tutor. 
Tradition  does  not  say  with  what  feelings  he  received  it,  but 
it  remained  for  many  years  at  a  room  in  Quincy,  where  he 
was  accustomed  to  spend  his  Saturdays  and  Sundays,  and 
finally  disappeared,  about  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary 
War.     It  is  supposed  to  have  been  carried  to  England. 

MINOR.  A  privy.  From  the  Latin  minor ^  smaller ;  the  word 
house  being  understood.  Other  derivations  are  given,  but 
this  seems  to  be  the  most  classical.  This  word  is  peculiar  to 
Harvard  College. 

MISS.  An  omission  of  a  recitation,  or  any  college  exercise. 
An  instructor  is  said  to  give  a  miss,  when  he  omits  a 
recitation. 

A  quaint  Professor  at  Harvard  College,  being  once  asked 
by  his  class  to  omit  the  recitation  for  that  day,  is  said  to  have 
replied  in  the  words  of  Scripture,  —  "  Ye  ask  and  receive 
not,  for  ye  ask  a  miss." 

Or  are  there  some  who  scrape  and  hiss 

Because  you  never  give  a  miss.  —  RebelHad,  p.  62. 

is  good  to  all  his  subjects, 

Misses  gives  he  every  hour.  —  MS.  Poem. 

MISS.  To  be  absent  from  a  recitation  or  any  college  exer- 
cise.    Said  of  a  student.     See  Cut. 

Who  will  recitations  miss! —  Rebelliad,  p.  53. 

At  every  corner  let  us  hiss  'em  ; 

And  as  for  recitations,  — miss  'em.  —  Ibid.,  p.  58. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  209 

Who  never  misses  declamation, 
Nor  cuts  a  stupid  recitation. 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  283. 

Missing  chambers  will  be  visited  with  consequences  more  to  be 
dreaded  than  the  penalties  of  missing  lecture.  —  Collegian^ s  Guide, 
p.  304. 

MITTEN.  At  the  Collegiate  Institute  of  Indiana,  a  student 
who  is  expelled  is  said  to  get  the  mitten. 

MOCK-PART.  At  Harvard  College,  it  is  customary,  when 
the  parts  for  the  first  exhibition  in  the  Junior  year  have  been 
read,  as  described  under  Part,  for  the  part-reader  to  an- 
nounce what  are  called  the  mock-parts.  These  mock-parts, 
which  are  burlesques  on  the  regular  appointments,  are 
also  satires  on  the  habits,  character,  or  manners  of  those  to 
whom  they  are  assigned.  They  are  never  given  to  any  but 
members  of  the  Junior  Class.  It  was  formerly  customary 
for  the  Sophomore  Class  to  read  them  in  the  last  term  of  that 
year,  when  the  parts  were  given  out  for  the  Sophomore  ex- 
hibition ;  but  as  there  is  now  no  exhibition  for  that  class,  they 
are  read  only  in  the  Junior  year.  The  following  may  do  as 
specimens  of  the  subjects  usually  assigned:  —  The  difference 
between  alluvial  and  original  soils ;  a  discussion  between  two 
persons  not  noted  for  personal  cleanliness.  The  last  term  of 
a  decreasing  series ;  a  subject  for  an  insignificant  but  con- 
ceited fellow.  An  essay  on  the  Humbug,  by  a  dabbler  in 
natural  history.  A  conference  on  the  three  dimensions, 
length,  breadth,  and  thickness,  between  three  persons,  one 
very  tall,  another  very  broad,  and  the  third  very  fat. 

MODERATE.  In  colleges  and  universities,  to  superintend 
the  exercises  and  disputations  in  philosophy,  and  the  Com- 
mencements when  degrees  are  conferred. 

They  had  their  weekly  declamations  on  Friday,  in  the  CoUedge 
Hall,  besides  publick  disputations,  which  either  the  Prassident  or  the 
Fellows  moderated,  —  Mather''s  Magnalia^  B.  IV.  p.  127. 

Mr.  Mather  moderated  at  the  Masters*  disputations.  —  Hutchin- 
son^ s  Hist,  of  Mass.,  Vol.  I.  p.  175,  note. 

Mr.  Andrew  moderated  aX  the  Commencements. —  Clap^s  HigU  of 
Yale  Coll,  p.  15. 

18* 


210  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Mr.  Woodbridge  moderated  at  Commencement,  1723.  —  Wool- 
sey's  Hist.  Disc,  p.  103. 

MODERATOR.  In  the  English  universities,  one  who  super- 
intends the  exercises  and  disputations  in  philosophy,  and  the 
examination  for  the  degree  of  B.  A.  —  Cam.  Cal. 

The  disputations  at  which  the  Moderators  presided  in  the 
English  universities,  "  are  now  reduced,"  says  Brande,  "  to 
little  more  than  matters  of  form." 

The  word  was  formerly  in  use  in  American  colleges. 

Five  scholars  performed  public  exercises  ;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge  acted  as  Moderator,  —  Clap's  Hist,  of  Yale  Coll.,  p.  27. 

He  [the  President]  was  occasionally  present  at  the  weekly  decla- 
mations and  public  disputations,  and  then  acted  as  Moderator;  an 
office  which,  in  his  absence,  was  filled  by  one  of  the  Tutors. — 
Quincy's  Hist,  of  Harv,  Univ.,  Vol.  I.  p.  440. 

MONITOR.  In  schools  or  universities,  a  pupil  selected  to 
look  to  the  scholars  in  the  absence  of  the  instructor,  or  to 
notice  the  absence  or  faults  of  the  scholars,  or  to  instruct  a 
division  or  class.  —  Webster, 

In  American  colleges,  the  monitors  are  usually  appointed 
by  the  President,  their  duty  being  to  keep  bills  of  absence 
from,  and  tardiness  at,  devotional  and  other  exercises.  See 
Laws  of  Harv,  and  Yale  Colls. ^  &c. 

Let  monitors  scratch  as  they  please, 
We  '11  lie  in  bed  and  take  our  ease. 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  123. 

MOONLIGHT.  At  Williams  College,  the  prize  rhetorical  ex- 
ercise is  called  by  this  name  ;  the  reason  is  not  given.  The 
students  speak  of  "  making  a  rush  for  moonlight,^''  i.  e.  of 
attempting  to  gain  the  prize  for  elocution. 

MOONLIGHT  RANGERS.  At  Jefferson  College,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, a  title  applied  to  a  band  composed  of  the  most 
noisy  and  turbulent  students,  commanded  by  a  captain  and 
sub-officer,  who,  in  the  most  fantastic  disguises,  or  in  any 
dress  to  which  the  moonlight  will  give  most  effect,  appear  on 
certain  nights  designated,  prepared  to  obey  any  command  in 
the  way  of  engaging  in  any  sport  of  a  pleasant  nature.    They 


AND   CUSTOMS.  211 

are  all  required  to  have  instruments  which  will  make  the 
loudest  noise  and  create  the  greatest  excitement. 

MOSS-COVERED  HEAD.  In  the  German  universities,  stu- 
dents  during  the  sixth  and  last  term,  or  semester^  are  called 
Moss-covered  Heads^  or,  in  an  abbreviated  form,  Mossy 
Heads. 

MOUTH.  To  recite  in  an  affected  manner,  as  if  one  knew 
the  lesson,  when  in  reality  he  does  not. 

Never  shall  you  allow  yourself  to  think  of  going  into  the  recita- 
tion-room, and  there  trust  to  "  skinning,"  as  it  is  called  in  some 
colleges,  or  '*  phrasing,"  as  in  others,  or  ^^ mouthing  it,"  as  in 
others.  —  Todd^s  StudenVs  Manual,  p.  115. 

MRS.  GOFF.     Formerly  a  cant  phrase  for  any  woman. 
But  cease  the  touching  chords  to  sweep, 
For  Mrs.  Goff  has  deigned  to  weep. 

Rebelliad,  p.  21. 

MUS.  B.  An  abbreviation  for  Musicce  Baccalaureus.  Bache- 
lor of  Music.  In  the  English  universities,  a  Bachelor  of 
Music  must  enter  his  name  at  some  college,  and  compose 
and  perform  a  solemn  piece  of  m«sic,  as  an  exercise  before 
the  University 

MUS.  D.  An  abbreviation  for  Musicce  Doctor.,  Doctor  of 
Music.  A  Mus.  D.  is  generally  a  Mus.  B.,  and  his  exercise 
is  the  same. 

MUSES.  A  college  or  university  is  often  designated  the 
Temple.,  Retreat.,  Seat^  &c.  of  the  Muses. 

Having  passed  this  outer  court  of  the  Temple  of  the  Muses,  you 
are  ushered  into  the  Sanctum  Sanctorum  itself.  —  Alma  Mater, 
Vol.  I.  p.  87. 

Inviting such  distinguished  visitors  as  happen  then  to 

be  on  a  tour  to  this  attractive  retreat  of  the  Muses.  —  Ibid.,  Vol.  I. 
p.  156. 

My  instructor  ventured  to  offer  me  as  a  candidate  for  admission 
into  that  renowned  seat  of  the  Muses,  Harvard  College.  —  New 
England  Mag.,  Yol.  III.  p.  237. 

•  A  student  at  a  college  or  university  is  sometimes  called  a 
Son  of  the  Muses, 


212  COLLEGE    WORDS 

It  might  perhaps  suit  some  inveterate  idlers,  smokers,  and  drink- 
ers, but  no  true  50/1  of  the  Muses, —  Yale  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol.  XV.  p.  3. 

While  it  was  his  earnest  desire  that  the  beloved  sons  of  the  Muses 
might  leave  the  institution  enriched  with  the  erudition,  &c.  —  Judge 
Kent's  Address  before  *.  B.  K.  of  Yale  Coll.,  p.  39,  1831. 


NAVY  CLUB.  The  Navy  Club,  or  the  Navy,  as  it  was  for- 
merly  called,  originated  among  the  students  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege about  the  year  1796,  but  did  not  reach  its  full  perfection 
until  several  years  after.  What  the  primary  design  of  the 
association  was  is  not  known,  nor  can  the  causes  be  ascer- 
tained which  led  to  its  formation.  At  a  later  period  its  ob- 
ject seems  to  have  been  to  imitate,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
customs  and  discipline  peculiar  to  the  flag-ship  of  a  navy, 
and  to  afford  some  consolation  to  those  who  received  no  ap- 
pointments at  Commencement,  as  such  were  always  chosen 
its  officers.  The  Lord  High  Admiral  was  appointed  by  the 
admiral  of  the  preceding  class,  but  his  election  was  not  known 
to  any  of  the  members  of  his  class,  until  within  six  weeks 
of  Commencement,  when  the  parts  for  that  occasion  were 
assigned.  It  was  generally  understood  that  this  officer  was 
to  be  one  of  the  poorest  in  point  of  scholarship,  yet  the  jol- 
liest  of  all  the  "  Jolly  Blades."  At  the  time  designated,  he 
broke  the  seal  of  a  package  which  had  been  given  him  by 
his  predecessor  in  office,  the  contents  of  which  were  known 
only  to  himself;  but  these  were  supposed  to  be  the  insignia 
of  his  office,  and  the  instructions  pertaining  to  the  admiralty. 
He  then  appointed  his  assistant  officers,  a  vice-admiral,  rear- 
admiral,  captain,  sailing-master,  boatswain,  &c.  To  the 
boatswain  a  whistle  was  given,  transmitted,  like  the  admiral's 
package,  from  class  to  class. 

The  Flag-ship  for  the  year  1815  was  a  large  marquee, 
called  "  The  Good  Ship  Harvard,"  which  was  moored  in  the 


AND    CUSTOMS.  213 

woods,  near  the  place  where  the  house  of  the  Hon.  John  G. 
Palfrey  now  stands.  The  floor  was  arranged  like  the  deck 
of  a  man-of-war,  being  divided  into  the  main  and  quarter 
decks.  The  latter  was  occupied  by  the  admiral,  and  no  one 
was  allowed  to  be  there  with  him  without  special  order  or 
permission.  In  his  sway  he  was  very  despotic,  and  on  board 
ship  might  often  have  been  seen  reclining  on  his  couch,  at- 
tended by  two  of  his  subordinates  (classmates),  who  made 
his  slumbers  pleasant  by  guarding  his  sacred  person  from 
the  visits  of  any  stray  mosquito,  and  kept  him  cool  by  the 
vibrations  of  a  fan.  The  marquee  often  stood  for  several 
weeks,  during  which  time  meetings  were  frequently  held  in 
it.  At  the  command  of  the  admiral,  the  boatswain  would 
sound  his  whistle  in  front  of  Holworthy  Hall,  the  building 
where  the  Seniors  then,  as  now,  resided,  and  the  student 
sailors  issuing  forth  would  form  in  procession,  and  march  to 
the  place  of  meeting,  there  to  await  further  orders.  If  the 
members  of  the  Navy  remained  on  board  ship  over  night, 
those  who  had  received  appointments  at  Commencement, 
then  called  the  "  Marines,"  were  obliged  to  keep  guard 
while  they  slept  or  caroused. 

The  operations  of  the  Navy  were  usually  closed  with  an 
excursion  down  the  harbor.  A  vessel  well  stocked  with 
certain  kinds  of  provisions  afforded,  with  some  assistance 
from  the  stores  of  old  ocean,  the  requisites  for  a  grand  clam- 
bake or  a  mammoth  chowder.  The  spot  usually  selected  for 
this  entertainment,  was  the  shores  of  Cape  Cod.  On  the 
third  day  the  party  usually  returned  from  their  voyage,  and 
their  entry  into  Cambridge  was  generally  accompanied  with 
no  little  noise  and  disorder.  The  Admiral  then  appointed 
privately  his  successor,  and  the  Navy  was  disbanded  for  the 
year. 

The  exercises  of  the  association  varied  from  year  to  year. 
Many  of  the  old  customs  gradually  went  out  of  fashion,  until 
finally  but  little  of  the  original  Navy  remained.  The  officers 
were,  as  usual,  appointed  yearly,  but  the  power  of  appointing 
them  was  transferred  to  the  class,  and  a  public  parade  was 
substituted  for  the  forms  and  ceremonies  once  peculiar  to 


214  COLLEGE    WORDS 

the  society.  The  excursion  down  the  harbor  was  omitted 
for  the  first  time  the  present  year,  and  the  last  procession 
made  its  appearance  in  the  year  1846. 

At  present  the  Navy  Club  is  organized  after  the  parts  for 
the  last  Senior  Exhibition  have  been  assigned.  It  is  com- 
posed of  three  classes  of  persons  ;  namely,  the  true  Navy, 
which  consists  of  those  who  have  never  had  parts ;  the 
Marines,  those  who  have  had  a  major  or  second  part  in  the 
Senior  year,  but  no  minor  or  first  part  in  the  Junior ;  and 
the  Horse- Marines,  those  who  have  had  a  minor  or  first 
part  in  the  Junior  year,  but  have  subsequently  fallen  off,  so 
as  not  to  get  a  major  or  second  part  in  the  Senior.  Of  the 
Navy  officers,  the  Lord  High  Admiral  is  usually  he  who  has 
been  sent  from  College  the  greatest  number  of  times ;  the 
Vice-Admiral  is  the  poorest  scholar  in  the  class ;  the  Rear- 
Admiral  the  laziest  fellow  in  the  class  ;  the  Commodore, 
one  addicted  to  boating  ;  the  Captain,  a  jolly  blade  ;  the 
Lieutenant  and  Midshipman,  fellows  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion ;  the  Chaplain,  the  most  profane ;  the  Surgeon,  a  dab- 
bler in  surgery,  or  in  medicine,  or  any  thing  else  ;  the  En- 
sign, the  tallest  member  of  the  class  ;  the  Boatswain,  one  most 
inclined  to  obscenity ;  the  Drum  Major,  the  most  aristocratic, 
and  his  assistants,  fellows  of  the  same  character.  These  con- 
stitute the  Band.  Such  are  the  general  rules  of  choice,  but 
they  are  not  always  followed.  The  remainder  of  the  class 
who  have  had  no  parts  and  are  not  officers  of  the  Navy  Club 
are  members,  under  the  name  of  Privates.  On  the  morning 
when  the  parts  for  Commencement  are  assigned,  the  mem- 
bers who  receive  appointments  resign  the  stations  which 
they  have  held  in  the  Navy  Club.  This  resignation  takes 
place  immediately  after  the  parts  have  been  read  to  the 
class.  The  doorway  of  the  middle  entry  of  Holworthy 
Hall  is  the  place  usually  chosen  for  this  affecting  scene. 
The  performance  is  carried  on  in  the  mock-oratorical  style, 
a  person  concealed  under  a  white  sheet  being  placed  behind 
the  speaker  to  make  the  gestures  for  him.  The  names  of 
those  members  who,  having  received  Commencement  ap- 
pointments, have  refused  to  resign  their  trusts  in  the  Navy 


AND   CUSTOMS.  215 

Club,  are  then  read  by  the  Lord  High  Admiral,  and  by  his 
authority  they  are  expelled  from  the  society.  This  closes 
the  exercises  of  the  Club. 

The  following  entertaining  account  of  the  last  procession, 
in  1846,  has  been  furnished  by  a  graduate  of  that  year :  — 

"  The  class  had  nearly  all  assembled,  and  the  procession, 
which  extended  through  the  rooms  of  the  Natural  History 
Society,  began  to  move.  The  principal  officers,  as  also  the 
whole  band,  were  dressed  in  full  uniform.  The  Rear  Ad- 
miral brought  up  the  rear,  as  was  fitting.  He  was  borne  in 
a  sort  of  triumphal  car,  composed  of  something  like  a  couch, 
elevated  upon  wheels,  and  drawn  by  a  white  horse.  On  this 
his  Excellency,  dressed  in  uniform,  and  enveloped  in  his 
cloak,  reclined  at  full  length.  One  of  the  Marines  played 
the  part  of  driver.  Behind  the  car  walked  a  colored  man, 
with  a  most  fantastic  head-dress,  whose  duty  it  was  to  carry 
his  Honor,  the  Rear  Admiral's  pipe.  Immediately  before 
the  car  walked  the  other  two  Marines,  with  guns  on  their 
shoulders.  The  'Digs'*  came  immediately  before  the 
Marines,  preceded  by  the  tallest  of  their  number,  carrying  a 
white-satin  banner,  bearing  on  it,  in  gold  letters,  the  word 
'  Harvard,'  with  a  spade  of  gold  paper  fastened  beneath. 
The  Digs  were  all  dressed  in  black,  with  Oxford  caps  on 
their  heads,  and  small  iron  spades  over  their  shoulders. 
They  walked  two  and  two,  except  in  one  instance,  namely, 
that  of  the  first  three  scholars,  who  walked  together,  the 
last  of  their  brethren,  immediately  preceding  the  Marines. 
The  second  and  third  scholars  did  not  carry  spades,  but 
pointed  shovels,  much  larger  and  heavier ;  while  the  first 
scholar,  who  walked  between  the  other  two,  carried  an 
enormously  great  square  shovel,  —  such  as  is  often  seen 
hung  out  at  hardware  stores  for  a  sign,  —  with  '  Spades  and 
Shovels,'  or  some  such  thing,  painted  on  one  side,  and 
'  All  Sizes  '  on  the  other.  This  shovel  was  about  two 
feet  square.     The  idea  of  carrying  real,  hona  fide  spades 

*  See  Dig.  In  this  case,  those  who  had  parts  at  two  Exhibitions  are 
thus  designated. 


216  COLLEGE    WORDS 

and  shovels  originated  wholly  in  our  class.  It  has  always 
been  the  custom  before  to  wear  a  spade,  cut  out  of  white 
paper,  on  the  lapel  of  the  coat.  The  Navy  Privates  were 
dressed  in  blue  shirts,  monkey-jackets,  &c.,  and  presented  a 
very  sailor-like  appearance.  Two  of  them  carried  small 
kedges  over  their  shoulders.  The  Ensign  bore  an  old  and 
tattered  flag,  the  same  which  was  originally  presented  by 
Miss  Mellen  of  Cambridge  to  the  Harvard  Washington 
Corps.  The  Chaplain  was  dressed  in  a  black  gown,  with 
an  old-fashioned,  curly,  white  wig  on  his  head,  which,  with 
a  powdered  face,  gave  him  a  very  sanctimonious  look.  He 
carried  a  large  French  Bible,  which  by  much  use  had  lost 
its  covers.  The  Surgeon  rode  a  beast  which  'might  well 
have  been  taken  for  the  Rosinante  of  the  world -renowned 
Don  Quixote.  This  worthy  iEsculapius  had  an  infinite 
number  of  brown-paper  bags  attached  to  his  person.  He 
was  enveloped  in  an  old  plaid  cloak,  with  a  huge  sign  for 
pills  fastened  upon  his  shoulders,  and  carried  before  him  a 
skull  on  a  staff.  His  nag  was  very  spirited,  so  much  so  as 
to  leap  over  the  chains,  posts,  &c.,  and  put  to  flight  the 
crowd  assembled  to  see  the  fun.  The  procession,  after 
having  cheered  all  the  College  buildings,  and  the  houses  of 
the  Professors,  separated  about  seven  o'clock,  P.  M." 

NECK.  To  run  one^s  neck,  at  Williams  College,  to  trust  to 
luck  for  the  success  of  any  undertaking. 

NESCIO.  Latin ;  literally,  I  do  not  know.  At  the  Univer- 
sity of  Cambridge,  England,  to  sport  a  nescio^  to  shake  the 
head,  a  signal  that  one  does  not  understand  or  is  ignorant  of 
the  subject.  "  After  the  Senate- House  examination  for  de- 
grees," says  Grose,  in  his  Classical  Dictionary  of  the  Vulgar 
Tongue,  "  the  students  proceed  to  the  schools,  to  be  ques- 
tioned by  the  proctor.  According  to  custom  immemorial, 
the  answers  must  be  Nescio.  The  following  is  a  translated 
specimen  :  — 

"  Ques.  What  is  your  name  .?     Ans,  I  do  not  know. 

"  Ques,  What  is  the  name  of  this  University  ?  Ans.  I  do 
not  kpow. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  217 

"  Ques.  Who  was  your  father  ?     Ans.  I  do  not  know. 
"  The  last  is  probably  the  only  true  answer  of  the  three !  " 

NEWY.     At  Princeton  College,  a  fresh  arrival. 

NIGHTGOWN.     A  dressing-gown  ;  a  deshaUlle, 

No  student  shall  appear  within  the  limits  of  the  College,  or  town 
of  Cambridge,  in  any  other  dress  than  in  the  uniform  belonging  to 
his  respective  class,  unless  he  shall  have  on  a  nightgown^  or  such 
an  outside  garment  as  may  be  necessary  over  a  coat.  —  Laws  Harv. 
Coll.,  1790. 

NON  ENS.  Latin  ;  literally,  not  being.  At  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  England,  one  who  has  not  been  matriculated, 
though  he  has  resided  some  time  at  the  University ;  conse- 
quently is  not  considered  as  having  any  being.  A  Freshman 
in  embryo.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab. 

NON  PARA VI.  Latin ;  literally,  I  have  not  prepared. 
When  Latin  was  spoken  in  the  American  colleges,  this  ex- 
cuse was  commonly  given  by  a  scholar  not  prepared  for 
recitation. 

With  sleepy  eyes  and  countenance  heavy, 
With  much  excuse  of  non  paravi, 

TrumbulVs  Progress  of  Dulness,  1794,  p.  8. 

The  same  excuse  is  now  frequently  given  in  English. 

The  same  individuals  were  also  observed  to  be  **  not  prepared  " 
for  the  morning's  recitation.  —  Harvardiana,  Vol.  II.  p.  261. 

I  hear  you  whispering,  with  white  lips,  "  Not  prepared,  Sir."  — 
Burial  of  Euclid,  1850,  p.  9. 

NON  PLACET.  Latin  ;  literally,  It  is  not  pleasing.  In  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  England,  the  term  in  which  a 
negative  vote  is  given  in  the  Senate-House. 

NON-READING  MAN.     See  Reading  Man. 

NON-REGENT.     In  the  English  universities,  a  term  applied 
to   those    Masters   of  Arts   whose   regency  has  ceased. — 
Webster, 
See  Regent. 

NON-TERM.     "  When  any  member  of  the  Senate,"  s.ays  the 
19 


218  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam,  "  dies  within  the  University  during 
term,  on  application  to  the  Vice-Chancellor,  the  University 
bell  rings  an  hour  ;  from  which  period  iYb?i-  Term^  as  to 
public  lectures  and  disputations,  commences  for  three 
days." 

NON  VALUI.  Latin ;  literally,  I  was  sick.  At  Harvard 
College,  when  the  students  were  obliged  to  speak  Latin,  it 
was  usual  for  them  to  give  the  excuse  non  valui  for  almost 
every  absence  or  omission.  The  President  called  upon  de- 
linquents for  their  excuses  in  the  chapel,  after  morning 
prayers,  and  these  words  were  often  pronounced  so  broadly 
as  to  sound  like  non  volui^  I  did  not  wish  [to  go].  The 
quibble  was  not  perceived  for  a  long  time,  and  was  heartily 
enjoyed,  as  may  be  well  supposed,  by  those  who  made  use 
of  it. 

NUMBER  TEN.  At  the  Wesleyan  University,  the  names 
"  No.  10,  and,  as  a  sort  of  derivative,  No.  1001,  are  applied 
to  the  privy."  The  former  title  is  used  also  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Vermont. 

NUTS.  A  correspondent  from  Williams  College  says,  "  We 
speak  of  a  person  whom  we  despise  as  being  a  ww/s."  This 
word  is  used  in  the  Yorkshire  dialect  with  the  meaning  of  a 
"  silly  fellow."  Mr.  Halliwell,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Archaic 
and  Provincial  Words,  remarks,  "  It  is  not  applied  to  an 
idiot,  but  to  one  who  has  been  doing  a  foolish  action." 


o. 

OAK.    In  the  English  universities,  the  outer  door  of  a  student's 
room. 

No  man  has  a  right  to  attack  the  rooms  of  one  with  whom  he  is 
not  in  the  habit  of  intimacy.  From  ignorance  of  this  axiom  I  had 
near  got  a  horse- whipping,  and  was  kicked  down  stairs  for  going  to 


AND    CUSTOMS.  219 

a  wrong  oak ;  whose  tenant  was  not  in  the  habit  of  taking  jokes  of 
this  kind.—  The  Etonian,  Yol.  11.  p.  287. 

A  pecker,  I  must  explain,  is  a  heavy  pointed  hammer  for  splitting 
large  coals  ;  an  instrument  often  put  into  requisition  to  force  open 
an  oak  (an  outer  door),  when  the  key  of  the  spring  latch  happens 
to  be  left  inside,  and  the  scout  has  gone  away.  —  The  Collegian^s 
Guide,  p.  119. 

Every  set  of  rooms  is  provided  with  an  oak  or  outer  door,  with  a 
spring  lock,  of  which  the  master  has  one  latch  key,  and  the  servant 
another.  —  Ibid.,  p.  141. 

"  To  sport  oaJc^  or  a  door,"  says  the  Gradus  ad  Canta- 
brigiam,  '*  is,  ia  the  modern  phrase,  to  exclude  duns,  or 
other  unpleasant  intruders."  It  generally  signifies,  how- 
ever, nothing  more  than  locking  or  fastening  one's  door  for 
safety  or  convenience. 

I  always  *'  sported  my  oak  "  whenever  I  went  out ;  and  if  ever  I 
found  any  article  removed  from  its  usual  place,  I  inquired  for  it ; 
and  thus  showed  I  knew  where  every  thing  was  last  placed. —  Col- 
legian^ s  Guide,  p.  141. 

If  you  persist,  and  say  you  cannot  join  them,  you  must  sport  your 
oak,  and  shut  yourself  into  your  room,  and  all  intruders  out.  —  Ibid, 
p.  340. 

Used  also  in  some  American  Colleges. 
And  little  did  they  dream  who  knocked  hard  and  often  at  his  oak 
in  vain,  &c.  —  Yale  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol.  X.  p.  47. 

OATHS.  At  Yale  College,  those  who  were  engaged  in  the 
government  were  formerly  required  to  take  the  oaths  of  alle- 
giance and  abjuration  appointed  by  the  Parliament  of  Eng- 
land. In  his  Discourse  before  the  Graduates  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, President  Woolsey  gives  the  following  account  of  this 
obligation :  — 

"  The  charter  of  1745  imposed  another  test  in  the  form 
of  a  political  oath  upon  all  governing  officers  in  the  College. 
They  were  required  before  they  undertook  the  execution  of 
their  trusts,  or  within  three  months  after,  '  publicly  in  the 
College  ball  [to]  take  the  oaths,  and  subscribe  the  declara- 
tion, appointed  by  an  act  of  Parliament  made  in  the  first 
year  of  George  the  First,  entitled.  An  Act  for  the  further 


220  COLLEGE  WORDS 

security  of  his  Majesty's  person  and  government,  and  the 
succession  of  the  Crown  in  the  heirs  of  the  late  Princess 
Sophia  being  Protestants,  and  for  extinguishing  the  hopes  of 
the  pretended  Prince  of  Wales,  and  his  open  and  secret 
abettors.'  We  cannot  find  the  motive  for  prescribing  this 
oath  of  allegiance  and  abjuration  in  the  Protestant  zeal 
which  was  enkindled  by  the  second  Pretender's  movements 
in  England, —  for,  although  belonging  to  this  same  year 
1745,  these  movements  were  subsequent  to  the  charter, —  but 
rather  in  the  desire  of  removing  suspicion  of  disloyalty  and 
conforming  the  practice  in  the  College  to  that  required  by 
the  law  in  the  English  universities.  This  oath  was  taken 
until  it  became  an  unlawful  one,  when  the  State  assumed 
complete  sovereignty  at  the  Revolution.  For  some  years 
afterwards,  the  officers  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  State 
of  Connecticut,  and  I  believe  that  the  last  instance  of  this  oc- 
curred at  the  very  end  of  the  eighteenth  century."  —  p.  40. 

In  the  Diary  of  President  Stiles,  under  the  date  of  July  8, 
1778,  is  the  annexed  entry,  in  which  is  given  the  formula  of 
the  oath  required  by  the  State  :  — 

"The  oath  of  fidelity  administered  to  me  by  the  Hon. 
Col.  Hamlin,  one  of  the  Council  of  the  State  of  Connecticut, 
at  my  inauguration. 

"  '  You,  Ezra  Stiles,  do  swear  by  the  name  of  the  ever- 
living  God,  that  you  will  be  true  and  faithful  to  the  State  of 
Connecticut,  as  a  free  and  independent  State,  and  in  all 
things  do  your  duty  as  a  good  and  faithful  subject  of  the 
said  State,  in  supporting  the  rights,  liberties,  and  privileges 
of  the  same.     So  help  you  God.' 

"  This  oath,  substituted  instead  of  that  of  allegiance  to 
the  King  by  the  Assembly  of  Connecticut,  May,  1777,  to  be 
taken  by  all  in  this  State  ;  and  so  it  comes  into  use  in  Yale 
College." —  Woolsey'*s  Hist,  Discourse^  Appendix,  p.  117. 

Ot ''Apio-roi.  Greek  ;  literally,  <Ae  Z>rai7e5/.  At  Princeton  Col- 
lege, the  aristocrats,  or  would-be  aristocrats,  are  so  called. 

OLD  BURSCH.  A  name  given  in  the  German  universities 
to  a  student  during  his  fourth  term.  Students  of  this  term 
are  also  designated  Old  Ones. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  221 

As  they  came  forward,  they  were  obliged  to  pass  under  a  pair  of 
naked  swords,  held  crosswise  by  two  Old  Ones.  —  Longfellow'' s 
Hyperion^  p.  110. 

OLD  HOUSE.  A  nanfie  given  in  the  German  universities 
to  a  student  during  his  fifth  term. 

OPPONENCY.  The  opening  of  an  academical  disputation ; 
the  proposition  of  objections  to  a  tenet ;  an  exercise  for  a 
degree.  —  Todd. 

Mr.  Webster  remarks,  "  I  believe  not  used  in  America." 

OPTIME.     The  title  of  those  who  stand  in  the  second  rank  of 
honors,  immediately  after  the  wranglers,  in  the  University 
of  Cambridge,  England.     They  are  divided  into  senior  and 
junior  optimes,  —  Webster. 
See  PoLLoi. 

OVERSEER.  The  general  government  of  the  colleges  in 
the  United  States  is  vested  in  some  instances  in  a  Corpora- 
tion, in  others  in  a  Board  of  Trustees  or  Overseers,  or,  as  in 
the  case  of  Harvard  College,  in  the  two  combined.  The 
duties  of  the  Overseers  are,  generally,  to  pass  such  orders 
and  statutes  as  seem  to  them  necessary  for  the  prosperity 
of  the  college  whose  affairs  they  oversee,  to  dispose  of  its 
funds  in  such  a  manner  as  will  be  most  advantageous,  to 
appoint  committees  to  visit  it  and  examine  the  students  con- 
nected with  it,  to  ratify  the  appointment  of  instructors,  and 
to  hear  such  reports  of  the  proceedings  of  the  college  gov- 
ernment as  require  their  concurrence. 

OXFORD.  The  cap  worn  by  the  members  of  the  University 
of  Oxford,  England,  is  called  an  Oxford  or  Oxford  cap. 
The  same  is  worn  at  some  American  colleges  on  Exhibition 
and  Commencement  days.  In  shape,  it  is  square  and  flat, 
covered  with  black  cloth ;  from  the  centre  depends  a  tassel 
of  black  cord.  It  is  further  described  in  the  following  pas- 
sage. 

My  back  equipped,  it  was  not  fair 
My  head  should  'scape^  and  so,  as  square 
As  chessboard, 
19* 


222  COLLEGE    WORDS 

A  cap  I  bought,  my  skull  to  screen, 
Of  cloth  without,  and  all  within 

Of  pasteboard. 

TerrcB-Filius,  Vol.  IT.  p.  225. 
Thunders  of  clapping  !  — As  he  bows,  on  high 
**  Praeses  "  his  "  Oxford  "  doffs,  and  bows  reply. 

Childe  Harvard,  p.  36. 

It  is  sometimes  called  a  trencher  cap^  from  its  shape. 

OXFORD-MIXED.  Cloth  such  as  is  worn  at  the  University 
of  Oxford,  England.  The  students  in  Harvard  College 
were  formerly  required  to  wear  this  kind  of  cloth  as  their 
uniform.  The  color  is  given  in  the  following  passage  :  "  By 
black-mixed  (called  also  Oxford-mixed)  is  understood,  black 
with  a  mixture  of  not  more  than  one  twentieth,  nor  less  than 
one  twenty-fifth,  part  of  white."  —  Laws  of  Harv,  Coll., 
1826,  p.  25. 

He  generally  dresses  in  Oxford-mixed  pantaloons,  and  a  brown 
surtout.  —  Collegian  J  p.  240. 


P. 

PARCHMENT.  A  diploma,  from  the  substance  on  which  it 
is  usually  printed,  is  in  familiar  language  sometimes  called 
a  parchment. 

There  are  some,  who,  relying  not  upon  the  *  parchment  and  seal ' 
as  a  passport  to  favor,  bear  that  with  them  which  shall  challenge 
notice  and  admiration. —  Yale  Lit.  Mag,,  Vol.  III.  p.  365. 

The  passer-by,  unskilled  in  ancient  lore. 
Whose  hands  the  ribboned  parchment  never  bore. 

Class  Poem  at  Harv.  Coll.,  1835,  p.  7. 
See  Sheepskin. 

PARIETAL.  From  Latin  paries^  a  wall ;  properly,  a  parti- 
tion-wall,  from  the  root  of  part  or  pare.  Pertaining  to  a 
wall.  —  Wehster. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  223 

At  Harvard  College  the  officers  resident  within  the  Col- 
lege walls  constitute  a  permanent  standing  committee,  called 
the  Parietal  Committee.  They  have  particular  cognizance 
of  all  tardinesses  at  prayers  and  Sabbath  services,  and  of 
all  offences  against  good  order  and  decorum.  They  are  al- 
lowed to  deduct  from  the  rank  of  a  student,  not  exceeding 
one  hundred  for  one  offence.  In  case  any  offence  seems  to 
them  to  require  a  higher  punishment  than  deduction,  it  is 
reported  to  the  Faculty.  —  Laws,  1850,  App. 

Had  I  forgotten,  alas  !  the  stern  parikal  monitions? 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  98. 

The  chairman  of  the  Parietal  Committee  is  often  called 
the  Parietal  Tutor, 

I  see  them  shaking  their  fists  in  the  face  of  the  parietal  tutor, 
—  Oration  before  H.  L.  of  L  O.  of  O.  F.,  1849. 

The  members  of  the  committee  are  called,  in  common 
parlance,  Parietals, 

Four  rash  and  inconsiderate  proctors,  two  tutors,  and  five  parie- 
tals, each  with  a  mug  and  pail  in  his  hand,  in  their  great  haste  to 
arrive  at  the  scene  of  conflagration,  ran  over  the  Devil,  and  knocked 
him  down  stairs.  —  Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  124. 

And  at  the  loud  laugh  of  thy  gurgling  throat. 
The  pariHals  would  forget  themselves. 

Ibid.,  Vol.  III.  p.  399  et  passim. 
Did  not  thy  starting  eyeballs  think  to  see 
Some  goblin  parietal  grin  at  thee  ? 

Ibid.,  Y oh  IV.  p.  197. 

The  deductions  made  by  the  Parietal  Committee  are  also 
called  Parietals. 

How  now,  ye  secret,  dark,  and  tuneless  chanters. 
What  is  't  ye  do  1     Beware  the  parietals, 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  44. 
Reckon  on  the  fingers  of  your  mind  the  reprimands,  deductions, 
parietals,  and  privates  in  store  for  you.  —  Oral,  H,  L,  of  I,  O.  of 
O.  F.,  1848. 

The  accent  of  this  word  is  on  the  antepenult ;  by  poetic 
license^  in  four  of  the  passages  above  quoted,  it  is  placed  on 
the  penult. 


224  COLLEGE    WORDS 

PART.  That  which  is  assigned  to  a  student  to  be  performed 
at  an  Exhibition  or  Commencement.  In  Harvard  College, 
as  soon  as  the  parts  for  an  Exhibition  or  Commencement 
are  assigned,  the  subjects  and  the  names  of  the  performers 
are  given  to  some  member  of  one  of  the  higher  classes, 
who  proceeds  to  read  them  to  the  students  from  a  window 
of  one  of  the  buildings,  after  proposing  the  usual  "  three 
cheers  "  for  each  of  the  classes,  designating  them  by  the 
years  in  which  they  are  to  graduate.  As  the  name  of  each 
person  who  has  a  part  assigned  him  is  read,  the  students 
respond  with  cheers.  This  over,  the  classes  are  again 
cheered,  the  reader  of  the  parts  is  applauded,  and  the  crowd 
disperse,  except  when  the  mock  parts  are  read,  or  the  offi- 
cers of  the  Navy  Club  resign  their  trusts. 

The  refusal  of  a  student  to  perform  the  fart  assigned  him,  will 
be  regarded  as  a  high  offence. — Laws  Univ,  at  Cam.,  Mass., 
1848,  p.  19. 

Often,  too,  the  qualifications  for  a  part are  discussed  in 

the  fireside  circles  so  peculiar  to  college.  —  Harv,  Reg,,  p.  378. 

It  is  very  common  to  speak  of  getting  parts. 

Here 
Are  acres  of  orations,  and  so  forth. 
The  glorious  nonsense  that  enchants  young  hearts 
With  all  the  humdrumology  of"  getting  parts.'''' 

Our  Chronicle  of  '26.     Boston,  1827,  p.  28. 

See  under  Mock-part  and  Navy  Club. 

PASS.  At  Oxford,  permission  to  receive  the  degree  of  A.  B. 
after  passing  the  necessary  examinations. 

The  good  news  of  the  pass  will  be  a  set-oflf  against  the  few  small 
debts.  —  Collegiaii^s  Guide,  p.  254. 

PASS  MAN.  At  Oxford,  one  who  merely  passes  his  exam- 
ination, and  obtains  testimonials  for  a  degree,  but  is  not  able 
to  obtain  any  honors  or  distinctions.  Opposed  to  Class- 
Man,  q.  v. 

"  Have  the  passmen  done  their  paper  work  yet? ''  asked  Whit- 
bread.  "  However,  the  schools,  I  dare  say,  will  not  be  open  to  the 
classmen  till  Monday."  —  Collegian'' s  Guide,  p.  309. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  225 

PATRON.  At  some  of  the  colleges  in  the  United  States,  the 
patron  is  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  funds,  and  to  regu- 
late the  expenses,  of  students  who  reside  at  a  distance.  For- 
merly, students  who  came  within  this  provision  were  obliged 
to  conform  to  the  laws  in  reference  to  the  patron ;  it  is  now 
left  optional. 

P.  D.  An  abbreviation  of  Philosophice  Doctor^  Doctor  of 
Philosophy.  "  In  the  German  universities,"  says  Brande, 
"  the  title  '  Doctor  Philosophise  '  has  long  been  substituted 
for  Baccalaureus  Artium  or  Literarium." 

PEACH.  To  inform  against ;  to  communicate  facts  by  way 
of  accusation.  * 

It  being  rather  advisable  to  enter  college  before  twelve,  or  to 
stay  out  all  nigl;it,  bribing  the  bed-maker  next  morning  not  to 
peach.  —  Alma  Mater, Yo\.  I.  p.  190. 

When,  by  a  little  spying,  1  can  reach 
The  height  of  my  ambition,  I  must  peach. 

The  Gallinipper,  Dec,  1849. 

PENE.  Latin,  almost^  nearly.  A  candidate  for  admission  to 
the  Freshman  Class  is  called  a  Pewe,  that  is,  almost  a  Fresh- 
man. 

PENNILESS  BENCH.  Archdeacon  Nares,  in  his  Glossary, 
says  of  this  phrase  :  "  A  cant  term  for  a  state  of  poverty. 
There  was  a  public  seat  so  called  in  Oxford  ;  but  I  fancy  it 
was  rather  named  from  the  common  saying,  than  that  de- 
rived from  it." 

Bid  him  bear  up,  he  shall  not 
Sit  long  on  penniless  bench, 

Mass.  Cittj  Mad.,  IV.  1. 

That  everie  stool  he  sate  on  was  pennilesse  bench,  that  his  robes 
were  rags.  — Euphues  and  his  Engl.,  D.  3. 

PENSIONER.  French,  pensionnaire^  one  who  pays  for  his 
board.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  and  in 
that  of  Dublin,  a  student  of  the  second  rank,  who  is  not  de- 
pendent on  the  foundation  for  support,  but  pays  for  his  board 
and  other  charges.  Equivalent  to  Commoner  at  Oxford,  or 
Oppidant  of  Eton  school.  —  Brande,     Gent.  Mag.^  1795. 


226  COLLEGE    WORDS 

PHI  BETA  KAPPA.  The  fraternity  of  the  <^  B  K  "  was  im- 
ported,"  says  Allyn  in  his  Ritual,  "  into  this  country  from 
France,  in  the  year  1776  ;  and,  as  it  is  said,  by  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson, late  President  of  the  United  States."  It  was  originally 
chartered  as  a  society  in  William  and  Mary  College,  in 
Virginia,  and  was  organized  at  Yale  College,  Nov.  13th, 

1780.  By  virtue  of  a  charter  formally  executed  by  the 
president,  officers,  and  members  of  the  original  society,  it 
was  established  soon  after  at  Harvard  College,  through  the 
influence  of  Mr.  Elisha  Parmele,  a  graduate  of  the  year 
1778.     The  first  meeting  in  Cambridge  was  held  Sept.  5th, 

1781.  The  original  Alpha  of  Virginia  is  now  extinct. 

"  Its  objects,"  says  Mr.  Quincy,  in  his  History  of  Harvard 
University,  "  were  the  '  promotion  of  literature  and  friendly 
intercourse  among  scholars '  ;  and  its  name  and  motto  indi- 
cate, that  '  philosophy,  including  therein  religion  as  well  as 
ethics,  is  worthy  of  cultivation  as  the  guide  of  life.'  This 
society  took  an  early  and  a  deep  root  in  the  University  ;  its 
exercises  became  public,  and  admittance  into  it  an  object  of 
ambition  ;  but  the  '  discrimination,'  which  its  selection  of 
members  made  among  students,  became  an  early  subject 
of  question  and  discontent.  In  October,  1789,  a  committee 
of  the  Overseers,  of  which  John  Hancock  was  chairman, 
reported  to  that  board,  'that  there  is  an  institution  in  the 
University,  with  the  nature  of  which  the  government  is  not 
acquainted,  which  tends  to  make  a  discrimination  among  the 
students,'  and  submitted  to  the  board  '  the  propriety  of  in- 
quiring into  its  nature  and  design.'  The  subject  occasioned 
considerable  debate,  and  a  petition,  of  the  nature  of  a  com- 
plaint against  the  society,  by  a  number  of  the  members  of 
the  Senior  Class,  having  been  presented,  its  consideration 
was  postponed,  and  it  was  committed  ;  but  it  does  not  appear 
from  the  records,  that  any  further  notice  was  taken  of  the 
petition.  The  influence  of  the  society  was  upon  the  whole 
deemed  salutary,  since  literary  merit  was  assumed  as  the 
principle  on  which  its  members  were  selected  ;  and,  so  far, 
its  influence  harmonized  with  the  honorable  motives  to  exer- 
tion which  have  ever  been  held  out  to  the  students  by  the 


AND    CUSTOMS.  22T 

laws  and  usages  of  the  College.  In  process  of  time,  its 
catalogue  included  almost  every  member  of  the  Immediate 
Government,  and  fairness  in  the  selection  of  members  has 
been  in  a  great  degree  secured  by  the  practice  it  has  adopted, 
of  ascertaining  those  in  every  class  who  stand  the  highest, 
in  point  of  conduct  and  scholarship,  according  to  the  esti- 
mates of  the  Faculty  of  the  College,  and  of  generally  re- 
garding those  estimates.  Having  gradually  increased  in 
numbers,  popularity,  and  importance,  the  day  after  Com- 
mencement was  adopted  for  its  annual  celebration.  These 
occasions  have  uniformly  attracted  a  highly  intelligent  and 
cultivated  audience,  having  been  marked  by  a  display  of 
learning  and  eloquence,  and  having  enriched  the  literature 
of  the  country  with  some  of  its  brightest  gems."  —  Vol.  II. 
p.  398. 

The  immediate  members  of  the  society  at  Cambridge 
were  formerly  accustomed  to  hold  semi-monthly  meetings, 
the  exercises  of  which  were  such  as  are  usual  in  literary  as- 
sociations. At  present,  meetings  are  seldom  held  except 
for  the  purpose  of  electing  members.  Affiliated  societies 
have  been  established  at  Dartmouth,  Union,  and  Bowdoin 
Colleges,  at  Brown  and  the  Wesleyan  Universities,  at  the 
Western  Reserve  College,  at  the  University  of  Vermont,  and 
at  Amherst  College,  and  they  number  among  their  members 
many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  our  country.  The 
letters  which  constitute  the  name  of  the  society  are  the  in- 
itials of  its  motto,  $tXoo-o<^ta,  Blov  Kv(3€pvr}rr)s^  Philosophy,  the 
Guide  of  Life. 

A  further  account  of  this  society  may  be  found  in  Allyn's 
Ritual  of  Freemasonry,  pp.  296-302,  ed.  1831. 

PHILISTINE.     In  Germany  this  name,  or  what  corresponds 

to  it  in  that  country,  Philister,  is  given  by  the  students  to 

tradesmen  and  others  not  belonging  to  the  university. 

Unb  ijat  t>ix  S5uvfc^  teiu  @e(b  im  ?5nitd, 
©0  pum^t  er  bie  93(?iU|ler  an. 

And  has  the  Bursch  his  cash  expended  ? 
To  sponge  the  Philistine  '5  his  plan. 

The  Crambambuli  Sons'. 


228  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Mr.  Halliwell,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Archaic  and  Provincial 
words,  says  of  this  word,  "  a  cant  term  apph'ed  to  bailiffs, 
sheriffs'  officers,  and  drunkards."  The  idea  of  narrow- 
mindedness,  a  contracted  mode  of  thinking  and  meanness, 
is  usually  connected  with  it,  and  in  some  colleges  in  the 
United  States  the  name  has  been  given  to  those  whose 
characters  correspond  with  this  description. 

See  Snob. 

PHRASING.  Reciting  by,  or  giving  the  words  or  phrase- 
ology of  the  book,  without  understanding  their  meaning. 

Never  should  you  allow  yourself  to  think  of  going  into  the  reci- 
tation-room, and  there  trust  to  "  skinning  it,"  as  it  is  called  in 
some  colleges,  or  "joArasm^,"  as  in  others. —  Todd^s  Student's 
Manual,  p.  115. 

PIECE.  "  Be  it  known,  at  Cambridge  the  various  Commons 
and  other  places  open  for  the  gymnastic  games,  and  the  like 
public  amusements,  are  usually  denominated  Pieces,'''*  — 
Alma  Mater,  Vol.  II.  p.  49.     London,  1827. 

PIETAS  ET  GRATULATIO.  "On  the  death  of  George  the 
Second,  and  accession  of  George  the  Third,  Mr.  Bernard, 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  suggested  to  Harvard  College 
"  the  expediency  of  expressing  sympathy  and  congratula- 
tion on  these  events,  in  conformity  with  the  practice  of  the 
English  universities."  Accordingly,  on  Saturday,  March 
14,  1761,  there  was  placed  in  the  Chapel  of  Harvard  College 
the  following  "  Proposal  for  a  Celebration  of  the  Death  of 
the  late  King,  and  the  Accession  of  his  present  Majesty,  by 
members  of  Harvard  College." 

"  Six  guineas  are  given  for  a  prize  of  a  guinea  each  to 
the  Author  of  the  best  composition  of  the  following  several 
kinds:  —  1.  A  Latin  Oration.  2.  A  Latin  Poem,  in  hexame- 
ters. 3.  A  Latin  Elegy,  in  hexameters  and  pentameters. 
4.  A  Latin  Ode.  5.  An  English  Poem,  in  long  verse.  6. 
An  English  Ode. 

"  Other  Compositions,  besides  those  that  obtain  the  prizes, 
that  are  most  deserving,  will  be  taken  particular  notice  of. 

"  The  candidates  are  to  be,  all.  Gentlemen  who  are  now 


AND   CUSTOMS.  229 

members  of  said  College,  or  have  taken  a  degree  within  sev- 
en years. 

"  Any  Candidate  may  deliver  two  or  more  compositions  of 
different  kinds,  but  not  more  than  one  of  the  same  kind. 

"  That  Gentlemen  may  be  more  encouraged  to  try  their 
talents  upon  this  occasion,  it  is  proposed  that  the  names  of 
the  Candidates  shall  be  kept  secret,  except  those  who  shall 
be  adjudged  to  deserve  the  prizes,  or  to  have  particular  notice 
taken  of  their  Compositions,  and  even  these  shall  be  kept 
secret  if  desired. 

"  For  this  purpose  each  Candidate  is  desired  to  send  his 
Composition  to  the  President,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of 
July  next,  subscribed  at  the  bottom  with  a  feigned  name  or 
motto,  and,  in  a  distinct  paper,  to  write  his  own  name  and 
seal  it  up,  writing  the  feigned  name  or  motto  on  the  outside. 
None  of  the  sealed  papers  containing  the  real  names  will  be 
opened,  except  those  that  are  adjudged  to  obtain  the  prizes  or 
to  deserve  particular  notice ;  the  rest  will  be  burned  sealed." 

This  proposal  resulted  in  a  work,  entitled,  "  Pietas  et 
Gratulatio  Collegii  Cantabrigiensis  apud  Novanglos."  In 
January,  1762,  the  Corporation  passed  a  vote,  "  that  the 
collections  in  prose  and  verse  in  several  languages  composed 
by  some  of  the  members  of  the  College,  on  the  motion  of 
his  Excellency  our  Governor,  Francis  Bernard,  Esq.,  on 
occasion  of  the  death  of  his  late  Majesty,  and  the  accession 
of  his  present  Majesty,  be  printed ;  and  that  his  Excellency 
be  desired  to  send,  if  he  shall  judge  it  proper,  a  copy  of  the 
same  to  Great  Britain,  to  be  presented  to  his  Majesty,  in  the 
name  of  the  Corporation."  ' 

Quincy  thus  speaks  of  the  collection  :  "  Governor  Ber- 
nard not  only  suggested  the  work,  but  contributed  to  it.  Five 
of  the  thirty-one  compositions,  of  which  it  consists,  were 
from  his  pen.  The  Address  to  the  King  is  stated  to  have 
been  written  by  him,  or  by  Lieutenant-Governor  Hutchinson. 
Its  style  and  turn  of  thought  indicate  the  politician  rather 
than  the  student,  and  savor  of  the  senate-chamber  more 
than  of  the  academy.  The  classical  and  poetic  merits  of 
the  work  bear  a  fair  comparison  with  those  of  European 
20 


230  COLLEGE    WORDS 

universities  on  similar  occasions,  allowance  being  made  for 
the  difference  in  the  state  of  science  and  literature  in  the 
respective  countries  ;  and  it  is  the  most  creditable  specimen 
extant  of  the  art  of  printing,  at  that  period,  in  the  Colo- 
nies. The  work  is  respectfully  noticed  by  the  '  Critical ' 
and  '  Monthly '  Reviews,  and  an  ode  of  the  President  is 
pronounced  by  both  to  be  written  in  a  style  truly  Horatian. 
In  the  address  prefixed,  the  hope  is  expressed,  that,  as 
'  English  colleges  have  had  kings  for  their  nursing  fathers, 
and  queens  for  their  nursing  mothers,  this  of  North  America 
might  experience  the  royal  munificence,  and  look  up  to  the 
throne  for  favor  and  patronage.'  In  May,  1763,  letters  were 
received  from  Jasper  Mauduit,  agent  of  the  Province,  men- 
tioning '  the  presentation  to  his  Majesty  of  the  book  of 
verses  from  the  College,'  but  the  records  give  no  indication 
of  the  manner  in  which  it  was  received.  The  thoughts  of 
George  the  Third  were  occupied,  not  with  patronizing  learn- 
ing in  the  Colonies,  but  with  deriving  revenue  from  them, 
and  Harvard  College  was  indebted  to  him  for  no  act  of 
acknowledgment  or  munificence."  —  Quincy^s  Hist.  Harv, 
Univ.,  Yol  II.  pp.  103-105. 

The  Charleston  Courier,  in  an  article  entitled  "  Literary 
Sparring,"  says  of  this  production  :  "  When,  as  late  as  1761, 
Harvard  University  sent  forth,  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  English, 
its  congratulations  on  the  accession  of  George  the  Third  to  the 
throne,  it  was  called,  in  England,  a  curiosity.  —  ^'^Bucking- 
ham's Miscellanies  from  the  Public  Journals,  Vol.  I.  p.  103. 

Mr.  Kendall,  an  English  traveller,  who  visited  Cambridge 
in  the*  year  1807-8,  notices  this  work  as  follows:  —  "In 
the  year  1761,  on  the  death  of  George  the  Second  and  the 
accession  of  his  present  Majesty,  Harvard  College,  or,  as  on 
this  occasion  it  styles  itself,  Cambridge  College,  produced  a 
volume  of  tributary  verses,  in  English,  Latin,  and  Greek, 
entitled,  Pietas  et  Gratulatio  CoUegii  Cantabrigiensis  apud 
Novanglos  ;  and  this  collection,  the  first  received,  and,  as  it 
has  since  appeared,  the  last  to  be  received,  from  this  semi- 
nary, by  an  English  king,  was  cordially  welcomed  by  the 
critical  journals  of  the  time."  —  KendalVs  Travels,  Vol.  III. 
p.  12. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  231 

For  further  remarks,  consult  the  Monthly  Review,  Vol. 
XXIX.  p.  22  ;  Critical  Review,  Vol.  X.  p.  284 ;  and  the 
Monthly  Anthology,  Vol.  VI.  p.  427. 

PIMP.  To  do  little,  mean  actions  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
favor  with  a  superior,  as,  in  college,  with  an  instructor.  The 
verb  with  this  meaning  is  derived  from  the  adjective  jpimp- 
ing,  which  signifies  little^  petty. 

Did  I  not  promise  those  who  fished 
And  pimped  most  any  part  they  wished. 

The  Rebelliad,  p.  33. 

PISCATORIAN.  From  the  Latin  piscator^  a  fisherman.  One 
who  seeks  or  gains  favor  with  a  teacher  by  being  officious 
toward  him. 

This  word  was  much  used  at  Harvard  College  in  the 
year  1822,  and  for  a  few  years  after  ;  it  is  now  very  seldom 
heard. 

See  under  Fish. 

PLACE.  In  the  older  American  colleges,  the  situation  of  a 
student  in  the  class  of  which  he  was  a  member  was  for- 
merly decided  in  a  measure  by  the  rank  and  circumstances  of 
his  family  ;  this  was  called  placing.  The  Hon.  Paine  Win- 
gate,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  the  year  1759, 
says,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Mr.  Peirce :  — 

"  You  inquire  of  me  whether  any  regard  was  paid  to  a  stu- 
dent on  account  of  the  rank  of  his  parent,  otherwise  than  his 
being  arranged  or  placed  in  the  order  of  his  class  ? 

"  The  right  of  precedence  on  every  occasion  is  an  object 
of  importance  in  the  state  of  society.  And  there  is  scarce 
any  thing  which  more  sensibly  affects  the  feelings  of  ambi- 
tion than  the  rank  which  a  man  is  allowed  to  hold.  This 
excitement  was  generally  called  up  whenever  a  class  in  col- 
lege was  placed.  The  parents  were  not  wholly  free  from  in- 
fluence ;  but  the  scholars  were  often  enraged  beyond  bounds 
for  their  disappointment  in  their  place,  and  it  was  some  time 
before  a  class  could  be  settled  down  to  an  acquiescence  in 
their  allotment.  The  highest  and  the  lowest  in  the  class 
was  often  ascertained  more  easily  (though  not  without  some 


232  COLLEGE    WORDS 

difficulty)  than  the  intermediate  members  of  the  class, 
where  there  was  room  for  uncertainty  whose  claim  was  best, 
and  where  partiality  no  doubt  was  sometimes  indulged.  But 
I  must  add,  that,  although  the  honor  of  a  place  in  the  class 
was  chiefly  ideal,  yet  there  were  some  substantial  advantages. 
The  higher  part  of  the  class  had  generally  the  most  influ- 
ential friends,  and  they  commonly  had  the  best  chambers  in 
College  assigned  to  them.  They  had  also  a  right  to  help 
themselves  first  at  table  in  Commons,  and  I  believe  generally, 
wherever  there  was  occasional  precedence  allowed,  it  was 
very  freely  yielded  to  the  higher  of  the  class  by  those  who 
were  below. 

"  The  Freshman  Class  was,  in  my  day  at  college,  usually 
placed  (as  it  was  termed)  within  six  or  nine  months  after 
their  admission.  The  official  notice  of  this  was  given  by 
having  their  names  written  in  a  large  German  text,  in  a 
handsome  style,  and  placed  in  a  conspicuous  part  of  the  Col- 
lege Buttery^  where  the  names  of  the  four  classes  of  under- 
graduates were  kept  suspended  until  they  left  College.  If  a 
scholar  was  expelled,  his  name  was  taken  from  its  place ;  or 
if  he  was  degraded  (which  was  considered  the  next  highest 
punishment  to  expulsion),  it  was  moved  accordingly.  As 
soon  as  the  Freshmen  were  apprised  of  their  places,  each 
one  took  his  station  according  to  the  new  arrangement  at 
recitation,  and  at  Commons,  and  in  the  chapel,  and  on  all 
other  occasions.  And  this  arrangement  was  never  afterward 
altered,  either  in  College  or  in  the  Catalogue,  however  the 
rank  of  their  parents  might  be  varied.  Considering  how 
much  dissatisfaction  was  often  excited  by  placing  the  classes 
(and  I  believe  all  other  colleges  had  laid  aside  the  practice), 
I  think  that  it  was  a  judicious  expedient  in  Harvard  to  con- 
form to  the  custom  of  putting  the  names  in  alphabetical 
order,  and  they  have  accordingly  so  remained  since  the  year 
1772."—  Peirce's  Hist,  of  Harv,  Univ.,  pp.  308-311. 

See  Degradation. 
PLACET.    Latin  ;  literally,  it  is  pleasing.     In  the  University 
of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  the  term  in  which  an  affirmative  vote 
is  given  in  the  Senate-House. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  233 

PLUCK.  In  the  English  universities,  a  refusal  of  testimonials 
for  a  degree. 

The  origin  of  this  word  is  thus  stated  in  the  Collegian's 
Guide  :  '*  At  the  time  of  conferring  a  degree,  just  as  the 
name  of  each  man  to  be  presented  to  the  Vice-Chancellor  is 
read  out,  a  proctor  walks  once  up  and  down  to  give  any  per- 
son who  can  object  to  the  degree  an  opportunity  of  signify- 
ing his  dissent,  which  is  done  by  plucking  or  pulling  the 
proctor's  gown.  Hence  another  and  more  common  mode  of 
stopping  a  degree,  by  refusing  the  testamur,  or  certificate  of 
proficiency,  is  also  called  plucking."  —  p.  203. 

On  the  same  word,  the  author  in  another  place  remarks 
as  follows :  "  As  long  back  as  my  memory  will  carry  me, 
down  to  the  present  day,  there  has  been  scarcely  a  mono- 
syllable in  our  language  which  seemed  to  convey  so  stinging 
a  reproach,  or  to  let  a  man  down  in  the  general  estimation 
half  as  much,  as  this  one  word  Pluck."  —  p.  288. 

PLUCKED.  A  cant  term  at  the  English  universities,  applied 
to  those  who,  for  want  of  scholarship,  are  refused  their  testi- 
monials for  a  degree.  —  Oxford  Guide. 

Who  had  at  length  scrambled  through  the  pales  and  discipline  of 
the  Senate-House  without  being  plucked,  and  miraculously  obtained 
the  title  of  A.  B.—  Gent.  Mag.,  1795,  p.  19. 

O,  what  a  misery  is  it  to  be  plucked!  Not  long  since,  an  under- 
graduate was  driven  mad  by  it,  and  committed  suicide.  —  The  term 
itself  is  contemptible  :  it  is  associated  with  the  meanest,  the  most 
stupid  and  spiritless  animals  of  creation.  .  When  we  hear  of  a  man 
being  plucked,  we  think  he  is  necessarily  a  goose.  —  Collegian^s 
Guide,  p.  288. 

POKER.     At  Oxford,  Eng.,  a  cant  name  for  a  hedeL 

If  the  visitor  see  an  unusual  **  state  "  walking  about,  in  shape  of 
an  individual  preceded  by  a  quantity  of  pokers,  or,  which  is  the 
same  thing,  men,  that  is  bedels,  carrying  maces,  jocularly  called 
pokers,  he  may  be  sure  that  that  individual  is  the  Vice-Chancellor. 
—  Oxford  Guide,  p.  xii.,  1847. 

POLE.  At  Princeton  and  Union  Colleges,  to  study  hard, 
e.  g.  to  pole  out  the  lesson.  To  pole  on  a  composition,  to 
take  pains  with  it. 

20* 


234  COLLEGE    WORDS 

POLER.  One  who  studies  hard  ;  a  close  student.  As  a  boat 
is  impelled  with  poles,  so  is  the  student  hy  poling,  and  it 
is  perhaps  from  this  analogy  that  the  word  poler  is  applied 
to  a  diligent  student. 

POLLOI.  01  noXXoi,  the  many.  In  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, Eng.,  those  who  take  their  degree  without  any 
honor.  After  residing  something  more  than  three  years  at 
this  University,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  tenth  term  comes  off 
the  final  examination  in  the  Senate-House.  He  who  passes 
this  examination  in  the  best  manner  is  called  Senior  Wran- 
gler. "  Then  follow  about  twenty,  all  called  Wranglers, 
arranged  in  the  order  of  merit.  Two  other  ranks  of  honors 
are  there,  —  Senior  Optimes  and  Junior  Optimes,  each  con- 
taining about  twenty.  The  last  Junior  Optime  is  termed 
the  Wooden  Spoon.  Then  comes  the  list  of  the  large 
majority,  called  the  Hoy  Polloi,  the  first  of  whom  is  named 
the  Captain  of  the  Poll,  and  the  twelve  last,  the  Apostles." 
—  Alma  Mater,  Vol.  I.  p.  3. 

PONS  ASINORUM.     Vide  Asses'  Bridge. 

PONY.  A  translation.  So  called,  it  may  be,  from  the  fleet- 
ness  and  ease  with  which  a  skilful  rider  is  enabled  to  pass 
over  places  which  to  a  common  plodder  present  many 
obstacles. 

And  stick  to  the  law,  Tom,  without  a  Pony.  —  Harv,  Reg.  p. 
194. 

And  when  leaving,  leave  behind  us 

Ponies  for  a  lower  class  ; 
Ponies,  which  perhaps  another, 

Toiling  up  the  College  hill, 
A  forlorn,  a  "  younger  brother," 
*'  Riding,"  may  rise  higher  still. 

Poem  before  the  Y.  H.  Soc,  p.  12,  1849. 
Their  lexicons,  ponies,  and  text-books  were  strewed  round  their 
lamps  on  the  table.  —  A  Tour  through  College,  p.  30.     Boston, 
1832. 

In  the  way  of  **  pony,^"*  or  translation,  to  the  Greek  of  Father 
Griesbach,  the  New  Testament  was  wonderfully  convenient. — New 
England  Magazine,  Vol.  III.  p.  208. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  235 

The  notes  are  just  what  notes  should  be  ;  they  are  not  a  pony, 
but  a  guide.  —  Southern  Lit,  Mess, 

Instead  of  plodding  on  foot  along  the  dusty,  well-worn  McAdam 
of  learning,  why  will  you  take  nigh  cuts  on  ponies? —  Yale  Lit, 
Mag.,  Vol.  XIII.  p.  281. 

The  '*  board  "  requests  that  all  who  present  themselves  will  bring 
along  the  ponies  they  have  used  since  their  first  entrance  into  Col- 
lege. —  The  Gallinipper,  Dec.  1849. 

The  tutors  with  ponies  their  lessons  were  learning. 

Yale  Banger,  Nov.  1850. 

We  do  think,  that,  with  such  a  team  of  ^^  ponies  "  and  load  of 
commentators,  his  instruction  might  evince  more  accuracy. —  Yale 
Tomahaivk,  Feb.  1851. 

PONY.     To  use  a  translation. 

POPPING.  At  William  and  Mary  College,  getting  the  advan- 
tage over  another  in  argument  is  called  popping  him. 

POPULARITY.  In  the  college  wse,  favor  of  one's  classmates, 
or  of  the  members  of  all  the  classes,  generally.  Nowhere 
is  this  term  employed  so  often,  and  with  so  much  significance, 
as  among  collegians.  The  first  wish  of  the  Freshman  is  to 
be  popular,  and  the  desire  does  not  leave  him  during  all 
his  college  life.  For  remarks  on  this  subject,  see  The  Lit- 
erary Miscellany,  Vol.  II.  p.  56  ;  Amherst  Indicator,  Vol. 
II.  p.  123,  etc. 

PORTIONIST.     One  who  has  a  certain  academical  allowance 
or  portion.  —  Webster, 
See  Postmaster. 

POSTMASTER.  In  Merton  College,  Oxford,  the  scholars 
who  are  supported  on  the  foundation  are  called  Postmasters, 
or  Portionists  {Portionistcz).  —  Oxf,  Guide. 

PRASES.     The  Latin  for  President. 

**  PrcBses  "  his  "  Oxford  "  doffs,  and  bows  reply. 

Childe  Harvard,  p.  36. 
Did  not  the  Prceses  himself  most  kindly  and  oft  reprimand  me  ? 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  98. 

PRAYERS.     In  colleges  and  universities,  the  religious  exer- 


236  COLLEGE    WORDS 

cises  performed  in  the  chapel  at  morning  and  evening,  at 
which  all  the  students  are  required  to  attend. 

These  exercises  in  some  institutions  were  formerly  much 
more  extended  than  at  present,  and  must  on  some  occasions 
have  been  very  onerous.  Mr.  Quincy,  in  his  History  of 
Harvard  University,  writing  in  relation  to  the  customs  which 
were  prevalent  in  the  College  at  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century,  says  on  this  subject  :  "  Previous  to  the  accession  of 
Leverett  to  the  presidency,  the  practice  of  obliging  the 
undergraduates  to  read  portions  of  the  Scripture  from  Latin 
or  English  into  Greek,  at  morning  and  evening  service,  had 
been  discontinued.  But  in  January  and  May,  1708,  this 
'  ancient  and  laudable  practice  was  revived '  by  the  Corpo- 
ration. At  morning  prayers  all  the  undergraduates  were 
ordered,  beginning  with  the  youngest,  to  read  a  verse  out  of 
the  Old  Testament  from  the  Hebrew  into  Greek,  except  the 
Freshmen,  who  were  permitted  to  use  their  English  Bibles 
in  this  exercise ;  and  at  evening  service,  to  read  from  the 
New  Testament  out  of  the  English  or  Latin  translation  into 
Greek,  whenever  the  President  performed  this  service  in  the 
Hall."  In  less  than  twenty  years  after  the  revival  of  these 
exercises,  they  were  again  discontinued.  The  following 
was  then  established  as  the  order  of  morning  and  evening 
worship  :  "The  morning  service  began  with  a  short  prayer; 
then  a  cliapter  of  the  Old  Testament  was  read,  which  the 
President  expounded,  and  concluded  with  prayer.  The 
evening  service  was  the  same,  except  that  the  chapter  read 
was  from  the  New  Testament,  and  on  Saturday  a  psalm 
was  sung  in  the  Hall.  On  Sunday,  exposition  was  omitted  ; 
a  psalm  was  sung  morning  and  evening ;  and  one  of  the 
scholars,  in  course,  was  called  upon  to  repeat,  in  the  evening, 
the  sermons  preached  on  that  day." — Vol.  I.  pp.  439,  440. 

The  custom  of  singing  at  prayers  on  Sunday  evening 
continued  for  many  years.  In  a  manuscript  journal  kept 
during  the  year  1793,  notices  to  the  following  effect  fre- 
quently occur.  '*Feb.  24th,  Sunday.  The  singing  club 
performed  Man's  Victory,  at  evening  prayers."  "  Sund.  April 
14th,  P.  M.     At   prayers   the   club   performed   Brandon." 


AND   CUSTOMS.  237 

"  May  19th,  Sabbath,  P.  M.  At  prayers  the  club  performed 
Holden's  Descend  ye  nine,  etc."  Soon  after  this,  prayers 
were  discontinued  on  Sunday  evenings. 

The  President  was  required  to  officiate  at  prayers,  but 
when  unable  to  attend,  the  office  devolved  on  one  of  the 
Tutors,  '^  they  taking  their  turns  by  course  weekly."  When- 
ever they  performed  this  duty  "  for  any  considerable  time," 
they  were  "  suitably  rewarded  for  their  service."  In  one 
instance,  in  1794,  all  the  officers  being  absent,  Mr.,  afterwards 
Prof  McKean,then  an  undergraduate,  performed  the  duties 
of  chaplain.  Tn  the  journal  above  referred  to,  under  date 
of  Feb.  22,  1793,  is  this  note :  "  At  prayers,  I  declaimed 
in  Latin  "  ;  which  would  seem  to  show,  that  this  season  was 
sometimes  made  the  occasion  for  exercises  of  a  literary, 
as  well  as  religious  character.  At  Yale  College,  one  of  the 
earliest  laws  ordains  that  "  all  undergraduates  shall  publicly 
repeat  sermons  in  the  hall  in  their  course,  and  also  bach- 
elors; and  be  constantly  examined  on  Sabbaths  [at]  evening 
prayer."  —  Pres,  Woolsey'^s  Discourse^  p.  59. 

A  writer  in  the  American  Literary  Magazine,  in  noticing 
some  of  the  evils  connected  with  the  American  college  sys- ' 
tem,  describes  very  truthfully,  in  the  following  question, 
a  scene  not  at  all  novel  in  student  life.  "  But  when  the 
young  man  is  compelled  to  rise  at  an  unusually  early  hour 
to  attend  public  prayers,  under  all  kinds  of  disagreeable  cir- 
cumstances ;  when  he  rushes  into  the  chapel  breathless, 
with  wet  feet,  half  dressed,  and  with  the  prospect  of  a  recita- 
tion immediately  to  succeed  the  devotions,  —  is  it  not  natural 
that  he  should  be  listless,  or  drowsy,  or  excited  about  his 
recitation,  during  the  whole  sacred  exercise  ?  "  —  Vol.  IV. 
p.  517. 

This  season  formerly  affiDrded  an  excellent  opportunity,  for 
those  who  were  so  disposed,  to  play  off  practical  jokes  on 
the  person  officiating.  On  one  occasion,  at  one  of  our  col- 
leges, a  goose  was  tied  to  the  desk  by  some  of  the  students, 
intended  as  emblematic  of  the  person  who  was  accustomed  to 
occupy  that  place.  But  the  laugh  was  artfully  turned  upon 
them  by  the  minister,  who,  seeing  the  bird  with  his  head  direct- 


238  ~  COLLEGE    WORDS 

ed  to  the  audience,  remarked,  that  he  perceived  the  young 
gentlemen  were  for  once  provided  with  a  parson  admirably- 
suited  to  their  capacities,  and  with  these  words  left  them  to 
swallow  his  well-timed  sarcasm.  On  another  occasion,  a 
ram  was  placed  in  the  pulpit,  with  his  head  turned  to  the 
door  by  which  the  minister  usually  entered.  On  opening 
the  door  the  animal,  diving  between  the  legs  of  the  fat  shep- 
herd, bolted  down  the  pulpit  stairs,  carrying  on  his  back  the 
sacred  load,  and  with  it  rushed  out  of  the  chapel,  leaving  the 
assemblage  to  indulge  in  the  reflections  excited  by  the  ex- 
pressive looks  of  the  astonished  beast,  and  of  his  more  aston- 
ished rider. 

The  Bible  was  often  kept  covered,  when  not  in  use,  with 
a  cloth.  It  was  formerly  a  very  common  trick  to  place 
under  this  cloth  a  pewter  plate  obtained  from  the  commons 
hall,  which  the  minister,  on  uncovering,  would,  if  he  were  a 
shrewd  man,  quietly  slide  under  the  desk,  and  proceed  as 
usual  with  the  exercises. 

At  Harvard  College,  about  the  year  1785,  two  Indian  im- 
ages were  missing  from  their  accustomed  place  on  the  top 
of  the  gate-posts  which  stood  in  front  of  the  dwelling  of  a 
gentleman  of  Cambridge.  At  the  same  time  the  Bible  was 
taken  from  the  chapel,  and  another,  which  was  purchased  to 
supply  its  place,  soon  followed  it,  no  one  knew  where.  One 
day,  as  a  tutor  was  passing  by  the  room  of  a  student,  hearing 
within  an  uncommonly  loud  noise,  he  entered,  as  was  his 
right  and  office.  There  stood  the  occupant,  holding  in  his 
hands  one  of  the  chapel  Bibles,  while  before  him  on  the 
table  were  placed  the  images,  to  which  he  appeared  to  be 
reading,  but  in  reality  was  vociferating  all  kinds  of  senseless 
gibberish.  "  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  noise  ?  "  inquired 
the  tutor  in  great  anger.  "  Propagating  the  gospel  among 
the  Indians^  Sir,"  replied  the  student  calmly. 

While  Professor  Ashur  Ware  was  a  tutor  in  Harvard  Col- 
lege, he  in  his  turn,  when  the  President  was  absent,  officiated 
at  prayers.  Inclined  to  be  longer  in  his  devotions  than  was 
thought  necessary  by  the  students,  they  were  often  on  such 
occasions  seized  with  violent  fits  of  sneezing,  which  gen- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  239 

erally   made  themselves  audible  in  the  word  "  A-a-shur," 
"  A-a-shur." 

PRELECTOR.  Latin,  prcBlecior,  One  who  reads  an  author 
to  others  and  adds  explanations  ;  a  reader  ;  a  lecturer. 

Their  so  famous  a  prelectour  doth  teach.  —  Sheldon,  Mir.  of 
Anti' Christ,  p.  38. 

If  his  reproof  be  private,  or  with  the  cathedrated  authority  of  a 
prcBlecior  or  public  reader.  —  Whitlock,  Mann,  of  the  English, 
p.  385. 

2.  Same  as  Father,  which  see. 

PREPOSITOR.  Latin.  A  scholar  appointed  by  the  master  to 
overlook  the  rest. 

And  when  requested  for  the  salt-cellar,  I  handed  it  with  as  much 
trepidation  as  a  prceposter  gives  the  Doctor  a  list,  when  he  is  con- 
scious of  a  mistake  in  the  excuses. —  The  Etonian,  Vol.  IL  p.  281. 

PRESENTATION  DAY.  At  Yale  College,  Presentation 
Day  is  the  time  when  the  Senior  Class,  having  finished  the 
prescribed  course  of  study,  and  passed  a  satisfactory  exami- 
nation, are  presented  by  the  examiners  to  the  President,  as 
properly  qualified  to  be  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts.  A  distinguished  professor  of  the  institution  where 
this  day  is  observed  has  kindly  furnished  the  following  in- 
teresting historical  account  of  this  observance. 

"  This  presentation,"  he  writes,  "  is  a  ceremony  of  long 
standing.  It  has  certainly  existed  for  more  than  a  century. 
It  is  very  early  alluded  to,  not  as  a  novelty^  but  as  an  estab- 
lished custom.  There  is  now  less  formality  on  such  occa- 
sions, but  the  substantial  parts  of  the  exercises  are  retained. 
The  examination  is  now  begun  on  Saturday  and  finished  on 
Tuesday,  and  the  day  after,  Wednesday,  six  weeks  before 
the  public  Commencement,  is  the  day  of  Presentation. 
There  have  sometimes  been  literary  exercises  on  that  day 
by  one  or  more  of  the  candidates,  and  sometimes  they  have 
been  omitted.  I  have  in  my  possession  a  Latin  Oration, 
what,  I  suppose,  was  called  a  Cliosophic  Oration^  pro- 
nounced by  William  Samuel  Johnson  in  1744,  at  the  presen- 
tation of  his  class.     Sometimes  a  member  of  the  class  ex- 


240  COLLEGE   WORDS 

hibited  an  English  Oration,  which  was  responded  to  by  some 
one  of  the  College  Faculty,  generally  by  one  who  had  been 
the  principal  instructor  of  the  class  presented.  A  case  of 
this  kind  occurred  in  1776,  when  Mr.,  afterwards  President 
Dwight,  responded  to  the  class  orator  in  an  address,  which, 
being  delivered  the  same  July  in  which  Independence  was 
declared,  drew,  from  its  patriotic  allusions,  as  well  as  for 
other  reasons,  unusual  attention.  It  was  published,  —  a  rare 
thing  at  that  period.  Another  response  was  delivered  in 
1796,  by  J.  Stebbins,  Tutor,  which  was  likewise  published. 
There  has  been  no  exhibition  of  the  kind  since.  For  a  few 
years  past,  there  have  been  an  oration  and  a  poem  exhib- 
ited by  members  of  the  graduating  class,  at  the  time  of  pre- 
sentation. The  appointments  for  these  exercises  are  made 
by  the  class. 

"  So  much  of  an  exhibition  as  there  was  at  the  presenta- 
tion in  1778  has  not  been  usual.  More  was  then  done, 
probably,  from  the  fact,  that  for  several  years,  during  the 
Revolutionary  war,  there  was  no  public  Commencement. 
Perhaps  it  should  be  added,  that,  so  far  back  as  my  informa- 
tion extends,  after  the  literary  exercises  of  Presentation  Day, 
there  has  always  been  a  dinner,  or  collation,  at  which  the 
College  Faculty,  graduates,  invited  guests,  and  the  Senior 
Class  have  been  present." 

A  graduate  of  the  present  year  writes  more  particularly 
in  relation  to  the  observances  of  the  day  at  the  present  time. 
"  In  the  morning  the  Senior  Class  are  met  in  one  of  the 
lecture-rooms  by  the  chairman  of  the  Faculty  and  the 
senior  Tutor.  The  latter  reads  the  names  of  those  who 
have  passed  a  satisfactory  examination,  and  are  to  be  rec- 
ommended for  degrees.  The  Class  then  adjourn  to  the 
College  Chapel,  where  the  President  and  some  of  the  Pro- 
fessors are  waiting  to  receive  them.  The  senior  Tutor 
reads  the  names  as  before,  after  which  Professor  Kingsley 
recommends  the  Class  to  the  President  and  Faculty  for  the 
degree  of  A.  B.,  in  a  Latin  discourse.  The  President  then 
responds  in  the  same  tongue,  and  addresses  a  few  words  of 
counsel  to  the  Class. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  241 

"  These  exercises  are  followed  by  the  Poem  and  Oration, 
delivered  by  members  of  the  Class  chosen  for  these  offices, 
by  the  Class.  Then  comes  the  dinner  given  in  one  of  the 
lecture-rooms.  After  this  the  Class  meet  in  the  College 
yard,  and  spend  the  afternoon  in  smoking  (the  old  clay  pipe 
is  used,  but  no  cigars)  and  singing.  Thus  ends  the  active 
life  of  our  college  days." 

In  the  Appendix  to  President  Woolsey's  Historical  Dis- 
course delivered  before  the  Graduates  of  Yale  College,  is 
the  following  account  of  Presentation  Day,  in  1778. 

"  The  Professor  of  Divinity,  two  ministers  of  the  town, 
and  another  minister,  having  accompanied  me  to  the  library 
about  1,  P.  M.,  the  middle  Tutor  waited  upon  me  there,  and 
informed  me  that  the  examination  was  finished,  and  they 
were  ready  for  the  presentation.  I  gave  leave,  being  seated 
in  the  library  between  the  above  ministers.  Hereupon  the 
examiners,  preceded  by  the  Professor  of  Mathematics, 
entered  the  library,  and  introduced  thirty  candidates,  a 
beautiful  sight !  The  Diploma  Examinatorium,  with  the  re- 
turn and  minutes  inscribed  upon  it,  was  delivered  to  the 
President,  who  gave  it  to  the  Vice-Bedellus,  directing  him  to 
read  it.  He  read  it  and  returned  it  to  the  President,  to  be 
deposited  among  the  College  archives  in  perpetuam  rei 
memoriam.  The  senior  Tutor  thereupon  made  a  very 
eloquent  Latin  speech,  and  presented  the  candidates  for  the 
honors  of  the  College.  This  presentation  the  President  in  a 
Latin  speech  accepted,  and  addressed  the  gentlemen  exam- 
iners and  the  candidates,  and  gave  the  latter  liberty  to  re- 
turn home  till  Commencement.     Then  dismissed. 

"  At  about  3,  P.  M.,  the  afternoon  exercises  were  ap- 
pointed to  begin.  At  3|,  the  bell  tolled,  and  the  assembly 
convened  in  the  chapel,  ladies  and  gentlemen.  The  Presi- 
dent introduced  the  exercises  in  a  Latin  speech,  and  then 
delivered  the  Diploma  Examinatorium  to  the  Vice-Bedellus, 
who,  standing  on  the  pulpit  stairs,  read  it  publicly.  Then 
succeeded, — 

Cliosophic  Oration  in  Latin,  by  Sir  Meigs. 

Poetical  Composition  in  English,  by  Sir  Barlow. 
21 


242  COLLEGE    WORDS 

!Sir  Miller, 
Sir  Chaplin, 
Sir  Ely. 
Cliosophic  Oration,  English,  by  Sir  Webster. 

!Sir  Wolcott, 
Sir  Swift, 
Sir  Smith. 
Valedictory  Oration,  English,  by  Sir  Tracy. 
An  Anthem.     Exercises  two  hours."  —  p.  121. 

PRESIDENT.  In  the  United  States,  the  chief  officer  of  a 
college  or  university.  His  duties  are,  to  preside  at  the 
meetings  of  the  Faculty,  at  Exhibitions  and  Commence- 
ments, to  sign  the  diplomas  or  letters  of  degree,  to  carry  on 
the  official  correspondence,  to  address  counsel  and  instruc- 
tion to  the  students,  and  to  exercise  a  general  superintend- 
ence in  the  affairs  of  the  college  over  which  he  presides. 

At  Harvard  College  it  was  formerly  the  duty  of  the  Pres- 
ident "  to  inspect  the  manners  of  the  students,  and  unto  his 
morning  and  evening  prayers  to  join  some  exposition  of  the 
chapters  which  they  read  from  Hebrew  into  Greek,  from 
the  Old  Testament,  in  the  morning,  and  out  of  English  into 
Greek,  from  the  New  Testament,  in  the  evening."  At  the 
same  College,  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  Mr. 
Wadsworth,  the  President,  states,  "  that  he  expounded  the 
Scriptures,  once  eleven,  and  sometimes  eight  or  nine  times 
in  the  course  of  a  week."  —  Harv.  Reg.^  p.  249,  and  Quin- 
cy^s  Hist.  Harv.  TJniv.^  Vol.  I.  p.  440. 

Similar  duties  were  formerly  required  of  the  President  at 
other  American  colleges.  In  some,  at  the  present  day,  he 
performs  the  duties  of  a  professor  in  connection  with  those 
of  his  own  office,  and  presides  at  the  daily  religious  exer- 
cises in  the  Chapel. 

The  title  of  President  is  given  to  the  chief  officer  in  some 
of  the  colleges  of  the  English  universities. 

PRESIDENT'S  CHAIR.  At  Harvard  College,  there  is  in 
the  Library  an  antique  chair,  venerable  by  age  and  associa- 
tion, which  is  used  only  on  Commencement  Day,  when  it  is 


AND   CUSTOMS.  243 

occupied  by  the  President  while  engaged  in  delivering  the 
diplomas  for  degrees.  "  Vague  report,"  says  Quincy,  "  rep- 
resents it  to  have  been  brought  to  the  College  during  the 
presidency  of  Holyoke,  as  the  gift  of  the  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Turell  of  Medford  (the  author  of  the  Life  of  Dr.  Colman). 
Turell  was  connected  by  marriage  with  the  Mathers,  by 
some  of  whom  it  is  said  to  have  been  brought  from  Eng- 
land." Holyoke  was  President  from  1737  to  1769.  The 
round  knobs  on  the  chair  were  turned  by  President  Holy- 
oke, and  attached  to  it  by  his  own  hands.  In  the  picture 
of  this  honored  gentleman,  belonging  to  the  College,  he  is 
painted  in  the  old  chair,  which  seems  peculiarly  adapted 
by  its  strength  to  support  the  weight  which  fills  it. 

Before  the  erection  of  Gore  Hall,  the  present  library 
building,  the  books  of  the  College  were  kept  in  Harvard 
Hall.  In  the  same  building,  also,  was  the  Philosophy 
Chamber,  where  the  chair  usually  stood  for  the  inspection 
of  the  curious.  Over  this  domain,  from  the  year  1793  to 
1800,  presided  Mr.  Samuel  Shapleigh,  the  Librarian.  He 
was  a  dapper  little  bachelor,  very  active  and  remarkably 
attentive  to  the  ladies  who  visited  the  Library,  especially  the 
younger  portion  of  them.  When  ushered  into  the  room 
where  stood  the  old  chair,  he  would  watch  them  with  eager 
eyes,  and,  as  soon  as  one,  prompted  by  a  desire  of  being 
able  to  say,  "  I  have  sat  in  the  President's  Chair,"  took  this 
seat,  rubbing  his  hands  together,  he  would  exclaim,  in  great 
glee,  "  A  forfeit !  a  forfeit !  "  and  demand  from  the  fair 
occupant  a  kiss,  a  fee  which,  whether  refused  or  not,  he 
very  seldom  failed  to  obtain. 

This  custom,  which  seems  now-a-days  to  be  going  out  of 
fashion,  is  mentioned  by  Mr.  William  Biglow,  in  a  poem 
before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society,  recited  in  their  dining- 
hall,  August  29,  1811.  Speaking  of  Commencement  Day 
and  its  observances,  he  says : 

**  Now  young  gallants  allure  their  favorite  fair 
To  take  a  seat  in  Presidential  Chair  ; 
Then  seize  the  long-accustonned  fee,  the  bliss 
Of  the  half  ravished,  half  free-granted  kiss," 


244  COLLEGE  WORDS 

The  editor  of  Mr.  Peirce's  History  of  Harvard  University 
publishes  the  following  curious  extracts  from  Horace  Wal- 
pole's  Private  Correspondence,  giving  a  description  of  some 
antique  chairs  found  in  England,  exactly  of  the  same  con- 
struction w^ith  the  College  chair ;  a  circumstance  which  cor- 
roborates the  supposition  that  this  also  was  brought  from 
England. 

Horace  Walpole  to  George  Montagu,  Esq. 

*'  Strawberry  Hill,  August  20,  1761. 

"  Dickey  Bateman  has  picked  up  a  whole  cloister  full  of  old 
chairs  in  Herefordshire.  He  bought  them  one  by  one,  here  and 
there  in  farm-houses,  for  three  and  six  pence  and  a  crown  apiece. 
They  are  of  wood,  the  seats  triangular,  the  backs,  arms,  and  legs 
loaded  with  turnery.  A  thousand  to  one  but  there  are  plenty  up 
and  down  Cheshire,  too.  If  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wetenhall,  as  they  ride 
or  drive  out,  would  now  and  then  pick  up  such  a  chair,  it  would 
oblige  me  greatly.  Take  notice,  no  two  need  be  of  the  same  pat- 
tern."—  Private  Correspondence  of  Horace  Walpole,  Earl  of  Or- 
ford,  Vol.  n.  p.  279. 

Horace  Walpole  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cole. 

"  Straioberry  Hill,  March  9,  1765.  ^ 
"  When  you  go  into  Cheshire,  and  upon  your  ramble,  may  I 
trouble  you  with  a  commission?  but  about  which  you  must  promise 
me  not  to  go  a  step  out  of  your  way.  Mr.  Bateman  has  got  a 
cloister  at  old  Windsor  furnished  wuth  ancient  vi^ooden  chairs,  most 
of  them  triangular,  but  all  of  various  patterns,  and  carved  and 
turned  in  the  most  uncouth  and  whimsical  forms.  He  picked  them 
up  one  by  one,  for  two,  three,  five,  or  six  shillings  apiece,  from 
different  farm-houses  in  Herefordshire.  I  have  long  envied  and 
coveted  them.  There  may  be  such  in  poor  cottages  in  so  neigh- 
boring a  county  as  Cheshire.  I  should  not  grudge  any  expense  for 
purchase  or  carriage,  and  should  be  glad  even  of  a  couple  such  for 
my  cloister  here.  When  you  are  copying  inscriptions  in  a  church- 
yard in  any  village,  think  of  me,  and  step  into  the  first  cottage  you 
see,  but  don't  take  further  trouble  than  that."  —  Ibid.,  Vol.  HI. 
pp.  23,  24,  from  Peirce''s  Hist.  Haru.  Univ.,  p.  312. 

An  engraving  of  the  chair  is  to  be  found   in   President 
Quincy's  History  of  Harvard  University,  Vol.  I.  p.  288. 

PREVARICATOR.  A  sort  of  an  occasional  orator ;  an  aca- 
demical phrase  in  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England.  — 
Johnson. 


AND   CUSTOMS. 


245 


He  should  not  need  have  pursued  me  through  the  various  shapes 
of  a  divine,  a  doctor,  a  head  of  a  college,  a  professor,  3.  prevaricator, 
a  mathematician.  —  Bp.  Wren,  Monarchy  Asserted,  Pref. 

It  vi^ould  have  made  you  smile  to  hear  the  prevaricator,  in  his  joc- 
ular way,  give  him  his  title  and  character  to  face.  —  A,  Philips, 
Life  of  Abp.  Williams,  p.  34. 

See  TERRiE-FiLius. 
PREX.     A  cant  term  for  President. 

After  examination,  I  went  to  the  old  Prex,  and  was  admitted. 
Prex,  hy  the  way,  is  the  same  as  President.  —  The  Dartmouth, 
Vol.  IV.  p.  117. 

But  take  a  peep  with  us,  dear  reader,  into  that  sanctum  sancto- 
rum, that  skull  and  bones  of  college  mysteries,  the  Prex^s  room. — 
The  Yale  Banger,  Nov.  10,  1846. 

Good  old  Prex  used  to  get  the  students  together  and  advise  them 
on  keeping  their  faces  clean,  and  blacking  their  boots,  &c.  —  Am- 
herst Indicator,  Vol.  III.  p.  228. 

PRINCIPAL.  At  Oxford,  the  president  of  a  college  or  hall 
is  sometimes  styled  the  principal.  —  Oxf.  Cal, 

PRIVATE.  At  Harvard  College,  one  of  the  milder  punish- 
ments is  what  is  called  private  admonition,  by  which  a  de- 
duction is  made  from  the  rank  of  the  offender.  So  called 
in  contradistinction  to  public  admonition,  when  a  deduction 
is  made,  and  with  it  a  letter  is  sent  to  the  parent.  Often 
abbreviated  into  private. 

Reckon  on  the  fingers  of  your  mind  the  reprimands,  deductions, 
parietals,  and  privates  in  store  for  you.  —  Oralion  before  H,  L,  of 
L  O,  of  O.  F,,  1848. 

What  are  parietals,  parts,  privates  now. 
To  the  still  calmness  of  that  placid  brow  ? 

Class  Poem,  Harv.  Coll,  1849. 

PROBATION.  In  colleges  and  universities,  the  examination 
of  a  student  as  to  his  qualifications  for  a  degree. 

2.  The  time  which  a  student  passes  in  college  from  the 
period  of  entering  until  he  is  matriculated  and  received  as  a 
member  in  full  standing.  In  American  colleges,  this  is  usu- 
ally six  months,  but  can  be  prolonged  at  discretion.  —  Colh 
Laws, 

21* 


246  COLLEGE    WORDS 

PROCEED.  To  take  a  degree.  Mr.  Halliwell,  in  his  Die- 
tionary  of  Archaic  and  Provincial  Words,  says,  '*This 
term  is  still  used  at  the  English  universities."  It  was  for- 
merly used  in  American  colleges. 

In  1605  he  proceeded  Master  of  Arts,  and  became  celebrated  as  a 
wit  and  a  poet.  —  Poems  of  Bishop  Corbet,  p.  ix. 

They  that  expect  to  proceed  Bachelors  that  year,  to  be  examined 

of  their  sufficiency, and  such  that  expect  to  proceed  Masters 

of  Arts,  to  exhibit  their  synopsis  of  acts. 

They,  that  are  approved  sufficient  for  their  degrees,  shall  proceed, 
—  Quincy's  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  I.  p.  518. 

The   Overseers recommended  to   the    Corporation    "  to 

take  effectual  measures  to  prevent  those  who  proceeded  Bachelors 
of  Arts,  from  having  entertainments  of  any  kind."  —  Ibid.,  Vol.  11. 
p.  93. 

Of  the  surviving  graduates,  the  oldest  proceeded  Bachelor  of  Arts 
the  very  Commencement  at  which  Dr.  Stiles  was  elected  to  the 
Presidency. —  Woolsei/s  Discourse,  Yale  Coll.,  Aug.  14,  1850, 
p.  38. 

PROCTOR.  Contracted  from  the  Latin  procurator^  from  pro- 
euro  ;  pro  and  euro.  ^ 

In  the  English  universities,  two  proctors  are  annually 
elected,  who  are  peace  officers.  It  is  their  especial  duty  to 
attend  to  the  discipline  and  behavior  of  all  persons  in  statu 
pupillari^  to  search  houses  of  ill  fame,  and  to  take  into  cus- 
tody women  of  loose  and  abandoned  character,  and  even 
those  de  maJo  suspectce.  Their  other  duties  are  not  so 
menial  in  their  character,  and  are  different  in  different  uni- 
versities. —  Cam.  Cal, 

"  The  proctors  act  as  university  magistrates ;  they  are  ap- 
pointed from  each  college  in  rotation,  and  remain  in  office 
two  years.  They  nominate  four  pro-proctors  to  assist  them. 
Their  chief  duty,  in  which  they  are  known  to  undergrad- 
uates, is  to  preserve  order,  and  keep  the  town  free  from  im- 
proper characters.  When  they  go  out  in  the  evening,  they 
are  usually  attended  by  two  servants,  called  by  the  gowns- 
men bull-dogs The  marshal,  a  chief  officer,  is  usually 

in  attendance  on  one  of  the  proctors It  is  also  the 

proctor's  duly  to  take  care  that  the  cap  and  gown  are  worn 


?      Abbreviated  for  Professor, 


AND   CUSTOMS.  247 

in  the  university." — The  Collegian^s  Guide,  Oxford,  pp. 
176,  177. 

The  class  of  xjfficers  called  Proctors  was  instituted  at 
Harvard  College  in  the  year  1805,  their  duty  being  ''  to  re- 
side constantly  and  preserve  order  within  the  walls,"  to  pre- 
serve order  among  the  students,  to  see  that  the  laws  of  the 
College  are  enforced,  "  and  to  exercise  the  same  inspection 
and  authority  in  their  particular  district,  and  throughout  Col- 
lege, which  it  is  the  duty  of  a  parietal  Tutor  to  exercise 
therein." —  Qaincy'^s  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  II.  p.  292. 

I  believe  this  is  the  only  college  in  the  United  States  where 
this  class  of  academical  police  officers  is  established. 

PROF, 
PROFF. 

The  Proff  thought  he  knew  too  much  to  stay  here,  and  so  he 
went  his  way,  and  I  saw  him  no  more. —  The  Dartmouth^  \o\.  IV. 
p.  116. 

For  Proffs  and  Tutors  too, 
Who  steer  our  big  canoe, 
>  Prepare  their  lays. 

Yale  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol.  III.  p.  144. 

PROFESSOR.  One  that  publicly  teaches  anjr  science  or 
branch  of  learning  ;  particularly,  an  officer  in  a  university, 
college,  or  other  seminary,  whose  business  is  to  read  lectures 
or  instruct  students  in  a  particular  branch  of  learning  ;  as,  a 
professor  of  theology  or  mathematics.  —  Wehster, 

PROFESSOR  OF  DUST  AND  ASHES.     A  title  sometimes 
jocosely  given  by  students  to  the  person  who  has  the  care 
of  their  rooms. 
Was  interrupted  a  moment  just  now,  by  the  entrance  of  Mr. 

C ,  the  gentleman  who  makes  the  beds,  sweeps,  takes  up  the 

ashes,  and  supports  the  dignity  of  the  title,  "  Professor  of  Dust  and 
Ashes. ^^  —  Sketches  of  Williams  College,  p.  77. 

The  South  College  Prof,  of  Dust  and  Ashes  has  a  huge  bill 
against  the  Society.  —  Yale  Tomahawk,  Feb.  1851. 

PROFICIENT.  The  degree  of  Proficient  is  conferred  in  the 
University  of  Virginia,  in  a  certificate    of  proficiency,  on 


248  COLLEGE   WORDS 

those  who  have  studied  only  in  certain  branches  taught  in 
some  of  the  schools  connected  with  that  institution. 

PRO-PROCTOR.  In  the  English  universities,  an  officer  ap- 
pointed to  assist  the  proctors  in  that  part  of  their  duty  only 
which  relates  to  the  discipline  and  behavior  of  those  persons 
who  are  in  statu  pupillari.  —  Cam.  and  Oxf.  Cals, 
More  familiarly,  these  officers  are  called  pro''s. 
They  [the  proctors]  are  assisted  in  their  duties  by  four  pro-proc- 
tors, each  principal  being  allowed  to  nominate  his  two  '';?ro'5."  — 
Oxford  Guide,  p.  xiii.,  1847. 

PRO  VICE-CHANCELLOR.  In  the  English  universities,  a 
deputy  appointed  by  the  Vice-Chancellor,  who  exercises  his 
power  in  case  of  his  illness  or  necessary  absence. 

PROVOST.     The  President  of  a  college. 

Dr.  Jay,  on  his  arrival  in  England,  found  there  Dr.  Smith,  Pro- 
vost of  the  College  in  Philadelphia,  soliciting  aid  for  that  institution. 
—  Hist.  Sketch  of  Columbia  Coll.,  p.  36. 

At  Columbia  College  in  1811,  an  officer  was  appointed,  styled 
Provost,  who,  in  absence  of  the  President,  was  to  supply  his  place, 
and  who,  **  besides  exercising  the  like  general  superintendence  with 
the  Presid^t,"  was  to  conduct  the  classical  studies  of  the  Senior 
Class.  The  office  of  Provost  continued  until  1816,  when  the  Trus- 
tees determined  that  its  powers  and  duties  should  devolve  upon  the 
President.  —  Ibid,,  p.  81. 

At  Oxford,  the  chief  officer  of  some  of  the  colleges  bears 
this  title.  At  Cambridge,  it  is  appropriated  solely  to  the 
President  of  King's  College.  "  On  the  choice  of  a  Provost," 
says  the  author  of  a  History  of  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
1753,  "  the  Fellows  are  all  shut  into  the  ante-chapel,  and  out 
of  which  they  are  not  permitted  to  stir  on  any  account,  nor 
none  permitted  to  enter,  till  they  have  all  agreed  on  their 
man  ;  which  agreement  sometimes  takes  up  several  days ; 
and,  if  I  remember  right,  they  were  three  days  and  nights 
confined  in  choosin-g  the  present  Provost,  and  had  their  beds, 
close-stools,  &c.,  with  them,  and  their  commons,  &;c.,  given 
them  in  at  the  windows."  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab.^  p.  85. 

PRUDENTIAL  COMMITTEE.     In   Yale   College,   a  com- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  249 

mittee  to  whom  the  discretionary  concerns  of  the  College 
are  intrusted.  They  order  such  repairs  of  the  College 
buildings  as  are  necessary,  audit  the  accounts  of  the  Treas- 
urer and  Steward,  make  the  annual  report  of  the  state  of  the 
College,  superintend  the  investment  of  the  College  funds,  in- 
stitute suhs  for  the  recovery  and  preservation  of  the  College 
property,  and  perform  various  other  duties  which  are  enu- 
merated in  the  laws  of  Yale  College. 

PUBLIC.  At  Harvard  College,  the  punishment  next  higher  in 
order  to  a  private  admonition  is  called  a  puhlic  admonition^ 
and  consists  in  a  deduction  from  the  rank  of  the  offender,  ac- 
companied by  a  letter  to  the  parent  or  guardian.  It  is  often 
called  a  public. 
See  Private. 

PUBLIC  DAY.  In  the  University  of  Virginia,  the  day  on 
which  "the  certificates  and  diplomas  are  awarded  to  the  suc- 
cessful candidates,  the  results  of  the  examinations  are  an- 
nounced, and  addresses  are  delivered  by  one  or  more  of  the 
Bachelors  and  Masters  of  Arts,  and  by  the  Orator  appointed 
by  the  Society  of  the  Alumni."  —  Cat.  of  Univ.  of  Virginia, 
This  occurs  on  the  closing  day  of  the  session,  the  29th  of 
June. 

PUBLIC  ORATOR.  In  the  English  universities,  an  officer 
who  is  the  voice  of  the  university  on  all  public  occasions, 
who  writes,  reads,  and  records  all  letters  of  a  public  nature, 
and  presents,  with  an  appropriate  address,  those  on  whom 
honorary  degrees  are  conferred.  At  Cambridge,  this  is 
esteemed  one  of  the  most  honorable  offices  in  the  gift  of  the 
university.  —  Cam.  and  Oxf.  Cals. 

PUNY.     A  young,  inexperienced  person  ;  a  novice. 

Freshmen  at  Oxford  were  called  punies  of  the  first  year.  —  Hal- 
liwelVs  Diet.  Arch,  and  Prov.  Words, 

PUT  THROUGH.  A  phrase  very  general  in  its  application. 
When  a  student  treats,  introduces,  or  assists  another,  or 
masters  a  hard  lesson,  he  is  said  to  put  him  or  it  through. 
In  a  discourse  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Orville  Dewey,  on  the  Law  of 


250  COLLEGE   WORDS 

Progress,  referring  to  these  words,  he  said  "  he  had  heard 
a  teacher  use  the  characteristic  expression  that  his  pupils 
should  be  'put  through''  such  and  such  studies.  This,  he 
said,  is  a  modern  practice.  We  put  children  through  phi- 
losophy, —  put  them  through  history,  —  put  them  through 
Euclid.  He  had  no  faith  in  this  plan,  and  wished  to  see  the 
school  teachers  set  themselves  against  this  forcing  process." 


Q. 

Q.     See  Cue. 

QUAD.     At  Oxford,  the  quadrangle  or  rectangular  court  of  a 
building. 

How  silently  did  all  come  down  the  staircases  into  the  chapel 
qiutd,  that  evening !  —  Collegian^ s  Guide,  p.  88. 

His  mother  had  been  in  Oxford  only  the  week  before,  and  had 
been  seen  crossing  the  quad,  in  tears.  —  Ibid.,  p.  144. 

QUARTER-DAY.     The  day  when  quarterly  payments  are 
made.     The  day  that  completes  three  months. 

At  Harvard  and  Yale  Colleges,  quarter-day,  when  the 
officers  and  instructors  receive  their  quarterly  salaries,  was 
formerly  observed  as  a  holiday.  One  of  the  evils  which 
prevailed  among  the  students  of  the  former  institution,  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  was  the  "  riotous  disorders 
frequently  committed  on  the  quarter-days  and  evenings,"  on 
one  of  which,  in  1764,  "  the  windows  of  all  the  Tutors  and 
divers  other  windows  were  broken,"  so  that,  in  consequence, 
a  vote  was  passed  that  "  the  observation  of  quarter-days,  in 
distinction  from  other  days,  be  wholly  laid  aside,  and  that 
the  undergraduates  be  obliged  to  observe  the  studying  hours 
and  to  perform  the  college  exercises  on  quarter-day,  and 
the  day  following,  as  at  other  times."  —  Peirce^s  Hist.  Harv. 
Univ.,  p.  216. 


AND  CUSTOMS.  25f 

QUESTIONIST.  In  the  English  universities,  a  nanne  given 
to  those  who  are  in  the  last  term  of  their  college  course,  and 
are  soon  to  be  examined  for  honors  or  degrees. —  Webster. 
In  the  "  Orders  agreed  upon  by  the  Overseers,  at  a  meet- 
ing in  Harvard  College,  May  6th,  1850,"  this  word  is  used 
in  the  following  sentence:  "  And,  in  case  any  of  the  Soph- 
isters,  Questionists^  or  Inceptors,  fail  in  the  premises  re- 
quired at  their  hands, they  shall  be  deferred  to  the 

following  year";  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  gained  any 
prevalence  in  the  College,  and  is  used,  it  is  believed,  only 
in  this  passage. 

QUILLWHEEL.  At  the  Wesleyan  University,  "  when  a 
student,"  says  a  correspondent,  "  '  knocks  under,'  or  yields 
a  point,  he  says  he  quillwheels^  that  is,  he  acknowledges  he 
is  wrong." 


RAG.  This  word  is  used  at  Union  College,  and  is  thus  ex- 
plained by  a  correspondent  :  "  To  rag  and  raggings  you 
will  find  of  very  extensive  application,  they  being  employed 
primarily  as  expressive  of  what  is  called  by  the  vulgar, 
thieving  and  stealing,  but  in  a  more  extended  sense  as 
meaning  superiority.  Thus,  if  one  declaims  or  composes 
much  better  than  his  classmates,  he  is  said  to  rag  all  his 
competitors." 

The  common  phrase,  "  to  take  the  rag  q^,"  i.  e.  to  excel, 
seems  to  be  the  form  from  which  this  word  has  been  abbre- 
viated. 

RAKE.  At  Williams  and  at  Bowdoin  Colleges,  used  in  the 
phrase  "  to  rake  an  X,"  i.  e.  to  recite  perfectly,  ten  being 
the  number  of  marks  given  for  the  best  recitation. 

RANTERS.     At  Bethany  College,  in  Virginia,  there  is  "  a 


252  COLLEGE   WORDS 

«  band,"  says  a  correspondent,  "  calling  themselves  '  Rant- 
erSj*  formed  for  the  purpose  of  perpetrating  all  kinds  of  ras- 
cality and  mischievousness,  both  on  their  fellow-students 
and  the  neighboring  people.  The  band  is  commanded  by 
one  selected  from  the  party,  called  the  Grand  Ranter^ 
whose  orders  are  to  be  obeyed  under  penalty  of  expulsion 
of  the  person  offending.  Among  the  tricks  commonly  in- 
dulged in  are  those  of  robbing  hen  and  turkey  roosts,  and 
feasting  upon  the  fruits  of  their  labor,  of  stealing  from  the 
neighbors  their  horses,  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  a  midnight 
ride,  and  to  facilitate  their  nocturnal  perambulations.  If 
detected,  and  any  complaint  is  made,  or  if  the  Faculty  are 
informed  of  their  movements,  they  seek  revenge  by  shaving 
the  tails  and  manes  of  the  favorite  horses  belonging  to  the 
person  informing,  or  by  some  similar  trick." 

RAY.  At  Bowdoin  College  it  is  said  "  a  man  has  rCt  a  ray^ 
when  he  is  totally  ignorant  of  the  subject  under  considera- 
tion." 

RAZOR.  A  writer  in  the  Yale  Literary  Magazine  defines 
this  word  in  the  following  sentence :  ''  Many  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  time-honored  institution,  from  whom  we  ought 
to  expect  better  things,  not  only  do  their  own  shaving,  but 
actually  make  their  own  razors.  But  I  must  explain  for  the 
benefit  of  the  uninitiated.  A  pun,  in  the  elegant  College 
dialect,  is  called  a  razor,  while  an  attempt  at  a  pun  is  styled 
a  sick  razor.  The  sick  ones  are  by  far  the  most  numerous ; 
however,  once  in  a  while  you  meet  with  one  in  quite  re- 
spectable health."  — Vol.  Xlll.  p.  283. 

The  meeting  will  be  opened  with  razors  by  the  Society's  jester. 
—  Yale  Tomahawk,  Nov.,  1849. 

Behold  how  Duncia  leads  her  chosen  sons. 

All  armed  with  squibs,  stale  jokes,  dull  razors,  puns. 

The  Gallinipper,  Dec,  1849. 

READ.  To  be  studious  ;  to  practise  much  reading  ;  e.  g.  at 
Oxford,  to  read  for  a  first  class  ;  at  Cambridge,  to  read  for 
an  honor.  In  America  it  is  common  to  speak  of  "  reading 
law,  medicine,"  &c. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  2Si 

This  system  takes  for  granted  that  the  students  have  *'  read,^^  as 
it  is  termed,  with  a  private  practitioner  of  medicine. —  Cat.  Univ. 
of  Virginia  J  1851,  p.  25. 

READER.  In  the  University  of  Oxford,  one  who  reads  lec- 
tures on  scientific  subjects.  —  LyelL 

READERSHIP.  In  the  University  of  Oxford,  the  office  of  a 
reader  or  lecturer  on  scientific  subjects.  —  Lyell, 

READING  MAN.  In  the  English  universities,  a  reading 
man  is  a  hard  student,  or  one  who  is  entirely  devoted  to  his 
collegiate  studies.  —  Webster. 

The  distinction  between  *'  reading  men  "  and  *'  non-reading 
men  "  began  to  manifest  itself.  — Alma  Mater,  Vol.  I.  p.  169. 

READ  UP.  Students  often  speak  of  reading  up^  i.  e.  prepar- 
ing themselves  to  write  on  a  subject,  by  reading  the  works 
of  authors  who  have  treated  of  it. 

REBELLION  TREE.  At  Harvard  College,  a  large  elm- 
tree,  which  stands  to  the  east  of  the  south  entry  of  Hollis 
Hall,  has  long  been  known  by  this  name.  It  is  supposed  to 
have  been  planted  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Thaddeus  M.  Harris. 
His  son.  Dr.  Thaddeus  W.  Harris,  the  present  Librarian 
of  the  College,  says  that  his  father  has  often  told  him, 
that  when  he  held  the  office  of  Librarian,  in  the  year  1792, 
a  number  of  trees  were  set  out  in  the  College  yard,  and  that 
one  was  planted  opposite  his  room.  No.  7  Hollis  Hall,  under 
which  he  buried  a  pewter  plate,  taken  from  the  commons 
hall.  On  this  plate  was  inscribed  his  name,  the  day  of  the 
month,  the  year,  &c.  From  its  situation  and  appearance, 
the  Rebellion  Tree  would  seem  to  be  the  one  thus  de- 
scribed ;  but  it  did  not  receive  its  name  until  the  year  1807, 
when  the  famous  rebellion  occurred  among  the  students, 
and  perhaps  not  until  within  a  few  years  antecedent  to 
the  year  1819.  At  that  time,  however,  this  name  seems 
to  have  been  the  one  by  which  it  was  commonly  known, 
from  the  reference  which  is  made  to  it  in  the  Rebelliad,  a 
poem  written  to  commemorate  the  deeds  of  the  rebellion  of 
that  year. 

22 


254  COLLEGE    WORDS 

^  And  roared  as  loud  as  he  could  yell, 

"  Come  on,  my  lads,  let  us  rebel ! 

With  one  accord  they  all  agree 
To  dance  around  Rebellion  Tree. 

Rebelliad,  p.  46. 
But  they,  rebellious  rascals  !  flee 
For  shelter  to  Rebellion  Tree. 

Ibid.,  p.  60. 
Stands  a  tree  in  front  of  Hollis, 
Dear  to  Harvard  over  all ; 

But  than  desert  us, 

Rather  let  Rebellion  fall. 

M8.  Poem. 
Other  scenes  are  sometimes  enacted  under  its  branches, 
as  the  following  verses  show  :  — 
**  When  the  old  year  was  drawing  towards  its  close. 
And  in  its  place  the  gladsome  new  one  rose. 
Then  niembers  of  each  class,  with  spirits  free. 
Went  forth  to  greet  her  round  Rebellion  Tree. 
Round  that  old  tree,  sacred  to  students'  rights. 
And  witness,  too,  of  many  wondrous  sights, 
In  solemn  circle  all  the  students  passed  ; 
They  danced  with  spirit,  until,  tired,  at  last 
A  pause  they  make,  and  some  a  song  propose. 
Then  '  Auld  Lang  Syne  '  from  many  voices  rose. 
Now,  as  the  lamp  of  the  old  year  dies  out, 
They  greet  the  new  one  with  exulting  shout ; 

They  groan  for ,  and  each  class  they  cheer. 

And  thus  they  usher  in  the  fair  new  year. 

Poem  before  K  L.  of  L  O.  of  O.  R,  p.  19,  1849. 

RECENTES.  Latin  for  the  English  Freshmen.  Consult 
Clap's  History  of  Yale  College,  1766,  p.  124. 

RECITATION.  In  American  colleges  and  schools,  the  re- 
hearsal of  a  lesson  by  pupils  before  their  instructor.  —  Web- 
ster. 

RECITATION-ROOM.  The  room  where  lessons  are  re- 
hearsed by  pupils  before  their  instructor. 

In  the  older  American  colleges,  the  rooms  of  the  Tutors 
were  formerly  the  recitation- rooms  of  the  classes.     At  Har- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  255 

vard  College,  the  benches  on  which  the  students  sat  when 
reciting  were,  when  not  in  use,  kept  in  piles,  outside  of  the 
Tutors'  rooms.  When  the  hour  of  recitation  arrived,  they 
would  carry  them  into  the  room,  and  again  return  them  to 
their  places  when  the  exercise  was  finished.  One  of  the 
favorite  amusements  of  the  students  was  to  burn  these 
benches  ;  the  spot  selected  for  the  bonfire  being  usually  the 
green  in  front   of  the  old  meeting-house,  or  the  common. 

KECITE.  Transitively,  to  rehearse,  as  a  lesson  to  an  in- 
structor. 

2.  Intransitively,  to  rehearse  a  lesson.  The  class  will 
recite  at  eleven  o'clock.  —  Webster, 

This  word  is  used  in  both  forms  in  American  seminaries. 

RECTOR.  The  chief  elective  officer  of  some  universities,  as 
in  France  and  Scotland.  The  same  title  was  formerly 
given  to  the  president  of  a  college  in  New  England,  but  it  is 
not  now  in  use.  —  Webster, 

The  title  of  Rector  was  given  to  the  chief  officer  of  Yale 
College  at  the  time  of  its  foundation,  and  was  continued  until 
the  year  1745,  when,  by  "  An  Act  for  the  more  full  and 
complete  establishment  of  Yale  College  in  New  Haven,"  it 
was  changed,  among  other  alterations,  to  that  of  President. 
—  Claji^s  Annals  of  Yale  College^  p.  47. 

The  chief  officer  of  Harvard  College  at  the  time  of  its 
foundation  was  styled  Master  or  Professor.  Mr.  Dunster 
was  chosen  the  first  President  in  1640,  and  those  who  suc- 
ceeded him  bore  this  title  until  the  year  1686,  when  Mr. 
Joseph  Dudley,  having  received  the  commission  of  President 
of  the  Colony,  changed  for  the  sake  of  distinction  the  title 
of  President  of  the  College  to  that  of  Rector,  A  few 
years  after,  the  title  of  President  was  resumed.  —  Peirce^s 
Hist.  Harv,  Univ.  p.  63. 

REDEAT.     Latin  ;  literally,  he  may  return.     "  It  is  the  cus- 
tom in  some  colleges,"  says  the   Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam, 
"  on  coming  into  residence,  to  wait  on  the  Dean,  and  sign 
your  name  in  a  book,  kept  for  that  purpose,  which  is  called 
' '^  signing  your  Redeat,'*'*  —  p.  92. 


256  COLLEGE   WORDS 

REFECTORY.  At  Oxford,  Eng.,  the  place  where  the  mem- 
bers of  each  college  or  hall  dine.  This  word  was  originally 
applied  to  an  apartment  in  convents  and  monasteries,  where 
a  moderate  repast  was  taken.  —  Brande, 

In  Oxford  there  are  nineteen  colleges  and  five  halls,  containing 
dwelling  rooms  for  the  students,  and  a  distinct  refectory  or  dining- 
hall,  library,  and  chapel  to  each  college  and  hall.  —  Oxf.  Guide ^ 
1847,  p.  xvi. 

At  Princeton  College,  this  name  is  given  to  the  hall  where 
the  students  eat  together  in  common.  —  Abbreviated  Refec. 

REGENT.  In  the  English  universities,  the  regents,  or  re- 
gentes^  are  members  of  the  university  who  have  certain 
peculiar  duties  of  instruction  or  government.  At  Cambridge, 
all  resident  Masters  of  Arts  of  less  than  four  years'  standing, 
and  all  Doctors  of  less  than  two,  are  Regents.  At  Oxford, 
the  period  of  regency  is  shorter.  At  both  universities,  those 
of  a  more  advanced  standing,  who  keep  their  names  on  the 
college  books,  are  called  non-regents.  At  Cambridge,  the 
regents  compose  the  upper  house,  and  the  non-regents  the 
lower  house  of  the  Senate,  or  governing  body.  At  Oxford, 
the  regents  compose  the  Congregation^  which  confers  de- 
grees, and  does  the  ordinary  business  of  the  university. 
The  regents  and  non-regents,  collectively,  compose  the  Coti" 
vocation^  which  is  the  governing  body  in  the  last  resort.  — 
Webster. 

2.  In  the  State  of  New  York,  the  member  of  a  corporate 
body  which  is  invested  with  the  superintendence  of  all  the 
colleges,  academies,  and  schools  in  the  State.  This  board 
consists  of  twenty-one  members,  who  are  called  the  Re- 
gents of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.  They 
are  appointed  and  removable  by  the  legislature.  They  have 
power  to  grant  acts  of  incorporation  for  colleges,  to  visit 
and  inspect  all  colleges,  academies,  and  schools,  and  to 
make  regulations  for  governing  the  same.  —  Statutes  of 
New  York. 

3.  At  Harvard  College,  an  officer  chosen  from  the  Faculty^ 
whose  duties  are  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  Pres- 
ident.    All  weekly   lists  of  absences,  monitor's  bills,  peti- 


AND    CUSTOMS.  257 

tions  to  the  Faculty  for  excuse  of  absences  from  the  regular 
exercises  and  for  making  up  lessons,  all  petitions  for  elective 
studies,  the  returns  of  the  scale  of  merit,  and  returns  of  de- 
linquencies and  deductions  by  the  tutors  and  proctors,  are  left 
with  the  Regent,  or  deposited  in  his  office.  The  Regent  also 
informs  those  who  petition  for  excuses,  and  for  elective 
studies,  of  the  decision  of  the  Faculty  in  regard  to  their 
petitions.  Formerly,  the  Regent  assisted  in  making  out  the 
quarter  or  term  bills,  of  which  he  kept  a  record,  and  when 
students  were  punished  by  fining,  he  was  obliged  to  keep  an 
account  of  the  fines,  and  the  offences  for  which  they  were 
imposed.  Some  of  his  duties  were  performed  by  a  Fresh- 
man, who  was  appointed  by  the  Faculty.  —  Laws  Harv.  Coll, 
1814,  and  Regulations^  1850. 
See  Freshman,  Regent's. 

REGISTER.  In  Union  College,  an  officer  whose  duties  are 
similar  to  those  enumerated  under  Registrar.  He  also 
acts,  without  charge,  as  fiscal  guardian  for  all  students  who 
deposit  funds  in  his  hands. 

REGISTRAR,      )     In   the  English  universities,  an   officer 
REGISTRARY.   \  who   has   the   keeping   of  all   the   public 
records.  —  Encyc. 

At  Harvard  College,  the  Corporation  appoint  one  of  the 
Faculty  to  the  office  of  Registrar.  He  keeps  a  record  of  the 
votes  and  orders  passed  by  the  latter  body,  gives  certified 
copies  of  the  same  when  requisite,  and  performs  other  like 
duties.  —  Laws  Univ.  at  Cam.,  Mass.,  1848. 

REGIUS  PROFESSOR.  A  name  given  in  the  British  uni- 
versities to  the  incumbents  of  those  professorships  which 
have  been  founded  by  royal  bounty. 

REGULATORS.  At  Hamilton  College,  "a  Junior  Class 
affair,"  writes  a  correspondent,  "  consisting  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  members,  whose  object  is  to  regulate  college  laws 
and  customs  according  to  their  own  way.  They  are  known 
only  by  their  deeds.  Who  the  members  are,  no  one  out  of 
the  band  knows.  Their  time  for  action  is  in  the  night." 
22* 


258  COLLEGE    WORDS 

RELIG.  At  Princeton  College,  an  abbreviated  name  for  a 
professor  of  religion. 

REPLICATOR.  "The  first  discussions  of  the  Society,  called 
Forensic,  were  in  writing,  and  conducted  by  only  two  mem- 
bers, styled  the  Respondent  and  the  Opponent.  Subsequently, 
a  third  was  added,  called  a  Replicator^  who  reviewed  the 
arguments  of  the  other  two,  and  decided  upon  their  com- 
parative merits."  —  Semi- centennial  Anniversary  of  thePhU 
lomathean  Society,  Union  Coll.,  p.  9. 

REPORT.      A   word   much   in   use  among  the  students  of 
universities  and  colleges,  in  the  common  sense  of  to  inform 
against,  but  usually  spoken  in  reference  to  the  Faculty. 
Thanks  to  the  friendly  proctor  who  spared  to  report  me. 

Harvardiana^  Vol.  III.  p.  79. 
If  I  hear  again 
Of  such  fell  outrage  to  the  college  laws, 
Of  such  loud  tumult  after  eight  o'clock, 
Thou  'It  be  reported  to  the  Faculty.  — Ibid,  p.  257. 

RESIDENT  GRADUATE.  In  the  United  States,  graduates 
who  are  desirous  of  pursuing  their  studies  in  the  place  where 
a  college  is  situated,  without  joining  any  of  its  departments, 
can  do  so  in  the  capacity  of  residents  or  resident  graduates. 
They  are  allowed  to  attend  the  public  lectures  given  in  the 
institution,  and  enjoy  the  use  of  its  library.  Like  other 
>  students,  they  give  bonds  for  the  payment  of  college  dues. 
ColL  Laws. 

RESPONDENT.  In  the  schools,  one  who  maintains  a  thesis 
in  reply,  and  whose  province  is  to  refute  objections,  or  over- 
throw arguments.  —  Watts. 

This  word,  with  its  companion  affirmant,  was  formerly 
used  in  American  colleges,  and  was  applied  to  those  who 
engaged  in  the  syllogistic  discussions  then  incident  to  Com- 
mencement. 

But  the  main  exercises  were  disputations  upon  questions,  wherein 
the  respondents  first  made  their  theses.  —  Mather'' s  Magnalia,  B. 
IV.  p.   128. 

The  syllogistic  disputes  were  held  between  an  affirmant  and  re- 


AND  CUSTOMS.  259 

spondent,  who  stood  in  the  side  galleries  of  the  church  opposite  to 
one  another,  and  shot  the  weapons  of  their  logic  over  the  heads  of 
the  audience.  —  Pres.  WooIsei/^s  Hist.  Disc.  Yale  Coll.,  p.  65. 

RESPONSION.     In  the  University  of  Oxford,  an  examina- 
tion  about  the  middle  of  the  college  course,  also  called  the 
Little-go,  —  LyelL 
See  LiTTLE-GO. 

RETRO.  Latin  ;  literally,  hack.  Among  the  students  of  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  used  to  designate  a  behind' 
hand  account.  "  A  cook'^  bill  of  extraordinaries  not  settled 
by  the  Tutor."  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab, 

REVIEW.  A  second  or  repeated  examination  of  a  lesson,  or 
the  lesson  itself  thus  reexamined. 

He  cannot  get  the  **  advance,"  forgets  **  the  review.''^ 

Childe  Harvard,  p.  13. 

ROOM.  To  occupy  an  apartment ;  to  lodge ;  an  academic 
use  of  the  word,  —  Webster. 

Inquire  of  any  student  at  our  colleges  where  Mr.  B.  lodges, 
and  you  will  be  told  he  rooms  in  such  a  building,  such  a  story, 
or  up  so  many  flight  of  stairs,  No.  — ,  to  the  right  or  left. 

The  Rowes,  years  ago,  used  to  room  in  Dartmouth  Hall.  —  The 
Dartmouth,  Vol.  IV.  p.  117. 

ROOT.  A  word  first  used  in  the  sense  given  below  by  Dr. 
Paley.  "  He  [Paley]  held,  indeed,  all  those  little  arts  of 
underhand  address,  by  which  patronage  and  preferment  are 
so  frequently  pursued,  in  supreme  contempt.  He  was  not 
of  a  nature  to  root ;  for  that  was  his  own  expressive  term, 
afterwards  much  used  in  the  University  to  denote  the  sort  of 
practice  alluded  to.  He  one  day  humorously  proposed  at 
some  social  meeting,  that  a  certain  contemporary  fellow  of 
his  college  [Christ's  College,  Cambridge,  Eng.],  at  that  time 
distinguished  for  his  elegant  and  engaging  manners,  and  who 
has  since  attained  no  small  eminence  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, should  be  appointed  prq/e.ssor  of  rooting.'^''  —  Memoirs 
of  Paley, 

ROWES.     The  name  of  a  party  which  formerly  existed  at 


260  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Dartmoutli  College.     They  are  thus  described  in  The  Dart- 
mouth, Vol.  IV.  p.  1 17  :  "  The   Rowes  are  very  liberal  in 
their  notions.     The  Howes  don  't  pretend  to  say  any  thing 
worse  of  a  fellow  than  to  call  him  a  Blue^  and  vice  versd^ 
See  Blues. 

ROWING.  The  making  of  loud  and  noisy  disturbances; 
acting  like  a  rowdy. 

Flushed  with  the  juice  of  the  grape,  all  prime  and  ready  for  rowing, 
When  from  the  ground  I  raised  the  fragments  of  ponderous  brickbat. 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  98. 

ROWL.  At  Princeton,  Union,  and  Hamilton  Colleges,  this 
word  is  used  to  signify  a  good  recitation.  Used  in  the 
phrase,  "  to  make  a  rowV*  From  the  second  of  these  Col- 
leges, a  correspondent  writes:  "  Also  of  the  word  rowl ;  if 
a  public  speaker  presents  a  telling  appeal  or  passage,  he 
would  make  a  'perfect  rowl^  in  the  language  of  all  students, 
at  least." 

ROWL.  To  recite  well.  A  correspondent  from  Princeton 
College  defines  this  word,  "to  perform  any  exercise  well, 
recitation,  speech,  or  composition  ;  to  succeed  in  any  branch 
or  pursuit." 

RUSH.  At  Yale  College,  a  perfect  recitation  is  denominated 
a  rush. 

I  got  my  lesson  perfectly,  and  what  is  more,  made  a  perfect  riu^lu 
Yak  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol.  XIII.  p.  134. 

This  mark  [that  of  a  hammer  with  a  note,  "  hit  the  nail  on  the 
head,"]  signifies   that  the  student  makes  a  capital    hit,  in  other 
words  a  decided  rush. —  Yale  Banger,  Nov.  10,  1846. 
In  dreams  his  many  rushes  heard. 

Ibid.,  Oct.  22,  1847. 

This  word  is  much  used  among  students  with  the  common 
meaning ;  thus,  they  speak  of  "  a  rush  into  prayers,"  "  a 
rush  into  the  recitation-room,"  &c.  A  correspondent  from 
Dartmouth  College  says  :  "  Rushing  the  Freshmen  is  putting 
tbem  out  of  the  chapel."  Another  from  AVilliams  writes : 
"  Such  a  man  is  making  a  rush^  and  to  this  we  often  add  — 
for  the  Valedictory." 


AND   CUSTOMS.  261 

The  gay  regatta  where  the  Oneida  led, 
The  glorious  rushes,  Seniors  at  the  head. 

Class  Poem,  Harv.  Coll.,  1849. 

RUSH.     To  recite  well  ;  to  make  a  perfect  recitation. 

It  was  purchased  by  the  man,  —  who  *  really  did  not  look  '  at  the 
lesson  on  which  he  *  rushed.^  —  Yale  Lit,  Mag.,  Vol.  XIV.  p.  411. 
Then  for  the  students  mark  flunks,  even  though  the  young  men  may 
be  rushing.  —  Yale  Banger,  Oct.,  1848. 

RUSTICATE.  To  send  a  student  for  a  time  from  a  college 
or  university,  to  reside  in  theicountry,  by  way  of  punishment 
for  some  offence. 

And  those  whose  crimes  are  very  great, 
Let  us  suspend  or  rusticate. —  Rebelliad,  p.  24. 
The  *'  scope  "  of  what  I  have  to  state 
Is  to  suspend  and  rusticate.  —  Ibid.,  p.  28. 

The  same  meaning  is  thus  paraphrastically  conveyed  :  — 
By  my  official  power,  I  swear. 
That  you  shall  smell  the  country  air.  —  Rebelliad,  p.  45. 

RUSTICATION.  In  universities  and  colleges,  the  punishment 
of  a  student  for  some  offence,  by  compelling  him  to  leave 
the  institution,  and  reside  for  a  time  in  the  country.  —  Weh» 
ster. 

It  seems  plain  from  his  own  verses  to  Diodati,  that  Milton  had  in- 
curred rustication,  —  a  temporary  dismission  into  the  country,  with, 
perhaps,  the  loss  of  a  term.  —  Johnson. 

Take  then  this  friendly  exhortation, 
The  next  offence  is  Rustication. 

MS.  Poem,  by  John  Q.  Adams. 

RUST-RINGING.  At  Hamilton  College,  "  the  Freshmen," 
writes  a  correspondent,  '*  are  supposed  to  lose  some  of  their 
verdancy  at  the  end  of  the  last  term  of  that  year,  and  the 
'  ringing  off  their  rust '  consists  in  ringing  the  chapel  bell  — 
commencing  at  midnight  —  until  the  rope  wears  out.  Dur- 
ing the  ringing,  the  upper  classes  are  diverted  by  the  display 
of  numerous  fire-works,  and  enlivened  by  most  beautifully 
discordant  sounds,  called  '  music,'  made  to  issue  from  tin 
kettle-drums,  horse-fiddles,  trumpets,  horns,  &c.,  &c.'l. 


262  COLLEGE   WORDS 

s. 

SAIL.  At  Bowdoin  College,  a  sail  is  a  perfect  recitation.  To 
sail  is  to  recite  perfectly. 

SALTING  THE  FRESHMEN.  In  reference  to  this  custom, 
which  belongs  to  Dartmouth  College,  a  correspondent  from 
that  institution  writes  :  "  There  is  an  annual  trick  of  '  salt- 
ing the  Freshmen^^  which  is  putting  salt  and  water  on  their 
seats,  so  that  their  clothes  ate  injured  when  they  sit  down." 
The  idea  of  preservation,  cleanliness,  and  health  is  no  doubt 
intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  use  of  the  wholesome  articles 
salt  and  water. 

SALUTATORIAN.  The  student  of  a  college  who  pronounces 
the  salutatory  oration  at  the  annual  Commencement. —  Weh- 
ster. 

SALUTATORY.  An  epithet  applied  to  the  oration  which 
introduces  the  exercises  of  the  Commencements  in  American 
colleges.  —  Webster. 

The  oration  is  often  called,  simply,  the  Salutatory, 
And  we  ask  our  friends  **  out  in  the  world,"  whenever  they  meet 
an  educated  man  of  the  class  of  '49,  not  to  ask  if  he  had  the  Vale- 
dictory or  Salutatory,  but  if  he  takes  the  Indicator.  —  Amherst  Indi- 
cator, Vol.  11.  p.  96. 

SATIS.  Latin  ;  literally,  enough.  In  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, Eng.,  the  lowest  honor  in  the  schools.  The  manner 
in  which  this  word  is  used  is  explained  in  the  Gradus  ad 
Cantabrigiam,  as  follows:  ^^  Satis  disputasti ;  which  is  as 
much  as  to  say,  in  the  colloquial  style,  '  Bad  enough.'  Satis 
et  bene  disputasti^  '  Pretty  fair,  —  tolerable.'  Satis  et  optime 
disputasti^  '  Go  thy  ways,  thou  flower  and  quintessence  of 
Wranglers.'  Such  are  the  compliments  to  be  expected  from 
the  Moderator,  after  the  act  is  kepty  —  p.  95. 

S.  B.  An  abbreviation  for  Scientice  Baccalaureus^  Bachelor 
in  Science.  At  Harvard  College,  this  degree  is  conferred 
on  those  who  have  pursued  a  prescribed  course  of  study  for 


AND   CUSTOMS.  26ft 

at  least  one  year  in  the  Scientific  School,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  period  passed  a  satisfactory  examination.  The  different 
degrees  of  excellence  are  expressed  in  the  diploma  by  the 
words,  cum  laude^  cum  magna  laude,  cum  summa  laude. 

SCHOLAR.    Any  member  of  a  college,  academy,  or  school. 
2.  An  undergraduate  in  English  universities,  who  belongs 
to  the  foundation  of  a  college,  and  receives  support  in  part 
from  its  revenues.  —  Wehster, 

SCFIOLARSFIIP.  Exhibition  or  maintenance  for  a  scholar; 
foundation  for  the  support  of  a  student.  —  Ainsworth. 

SCHOOL.  The  Schools,  pi. ;  the  seminaries  for  teaching 
logic,  metaphysics,  and  theology,  which  were  formed  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  which  were  characterized  by  academical 
disputations  and  subtilties  of  reasoning  ;  or  the  learned  men 
who  were  engaged  in  discussing  nice  points  in  metaphysics 
or  theology.  —  Wehster, 

2.  In  some  American  colleges,  the  different  departments 
for  teaching  law,  medicine,  divinity,  &c.,  are  denominated 
schools. 

In  the  English  universities  the  examination  in  the  schools 
precedes  that  which  takes  place  in  the  Senate-House.  The 
principal  exercises  consist  of  disputations  in  philosophy, 
divinity,  and  law,  and  are  always  conducted  in  a  sort  of  bar- 
barous Latin. 

I  attended  the  scJiools  several  times,  with  the  view  of  acquiring 
the  tact  and  self-possession  so  requisite  in  these  public  contests. — 
Alma  Mater,  Vol.  II.  p.  39. 

SCONCE.  To  mulct ;  to  fine.  Used  at  the  University  of 
Oxford. 

A  young  fellow  of  Baliol  College,  having,  upon  some  discontent, 
cut  his  throat  very  dangerously,  the  Master  of  the  College  sent  his 
servitor  to  the  buttery-book  to  sconce  (i.  e.  fine)  him  5s. ;  and,  says 
the  Doctor,  tell  him  the  next  time  he  cuts  his  throat  I  '11  sconce  him 
ten.  —  Terrce-Filius,  No.  39. 

Was  sconced  in  a  quart  of  ale  for  quoting  Latin,  a  passage  from 
Juvenal ;  murmured,  and  the  fine  was  doubled.  —  The  Etonian, 
Vol.  II.  p.  391. 


264  COLLEGE    WORDS 

SCOUT.     A   cant  term  at  Oxford  for  a  college  servant  or 
waiter.  —  Oxford  Guide, 

My  scout^  indeed,  is  a  very  learned  fellow,  and  has  an  excellent 
knack  at  using  hard  words.  One  morning  he  told  rae  the  gentle- 
man in  the  next  room  contagious  to  mine  desired  to  speak  to  me. 
I  once  overheard  him  give  a  fellow-servant  very  sober  advice  not  to 
go  astray,  but  be  true  to  his  own  wife  ;  for  idolatry  would  surely 
bring  a  man  to  instruction  at  last. —  TJie  Student,  Oxf.  and  Cam., 
Vol.  I.  p.  b5,  1750. 

An  ante-room,  or  vestibule,  which  serves  the  purpose  of  a  scoufs 
pantry.  —  The  Etonian,  Vol.  II.  p.  280. 

Sometimes  used  in  American  colleges. 
In  order  to  quiet  him,  we  had  to  send  for  his  factotum  or  scout, 
an  old  black  fellow.  —  Yale  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol.  XI.  p.  282. 

SCRAPE.  To  insult  by  drawing  the  feet  over  the  floor.  — 
Grose. 

But  in  a  manner  quite  uncivil, 

They  hissed  and  scraped  him  like  the  devil. 

Rebelliad,  p.  37. 
**  I  do  insist," 
Quoth  he,  *'  that  two,  who  scraped  and  hissed, 
Shall  be  condemned  without  a  jury 
To  pass  the  winter  months  in  rui^e,^'  — Ibid.,  p.  41. 
They  not  unfrequently  rose  to  open  outrage  or  some  personal 
molestation,  as  casting  missiles  through  his  windows  at  night,  or 
**  scraping  him  "  by  day.  — A  Tour  through  College,  p.  25.     Bos- 
ton, 1832. 

SCRAPING.  A  drawing  of  the  feet  over  the  floor,  as  an  in- 
sult to  some  one,  or  merely  to  cause  disturbance  ;  a  shuf- 
fling of  the  feet. 

New  lustre  was  added  to  the  dignity  of  their  feelings  by  the 
pathetic  and  impressive  manner  in  which  they  expressed  them, 
which  was  by  stamping  and  scraping  majestically  with  their  feet, 
when  in  the  presence  of  the  detested  tutors.  —  Don  Quixotes  at 
College,  1807. 

The  morning  and  evening  daily  prayers  were,  on  the  next  day 
(Thursday),  interrupted  by  scraping,  whistling,  groaning,  and 
other  disgraceful  noises.  —  Circular,  Harvard  College,  1834,  p.  9. 

This  word  is  used  in  the  universities  and  colleges  of  both 
England  and  America. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  265 

SCREW.  In  some  American  colleges,  an  excessive,  unneces- 
sarily minute,  and  annoying  examination  of  a  student  by  an 
instructor  is  called  a  screw.  The  instructor  is  often  desig- 
nated by  the  same  name.  An  imperfect  recitation  is  some- 
times thus  denominated. 

Haunted  by  day  with  fearful  screw. 

Harvard  Lyceum,  p.  102. 

Screios,  duns,  and  other  such  like  evils. 

Rebelliadf  p.  77. 

One  must  experience  all  the  stammering  and  stuttering,  the  un- 
ending doubtings  and  guessings,  to  understand  fully  the  power  of  a 
mathematical  screw.  — Harv.  Reg.,  p.  378. 

The  consequence  was,  a  patient  submission  to  the  screw,  and  a 
loss  of  college  honors  and  patronage.  —  A  Tour  through  College, 
p.  26.     Boston,  1832. 

I  '11  tell  him  a  whopper  next  time,  and  astonish  him  so  that 
he  '11  forget  his  screws.  —  Yale  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol.  XL  p.  336. 
What  a  darned  screw  our  tutor  is.  —  Ibid. 

We  've  felt  the  cruel,  torturing  screw, 
And  oft  its  driver's  ire. 

Song,  Sophomore  Supper,  Bowdoin  Coll.,  1850. 

Passing  such  an  examination  is  often  denominated  taking 
a  screw. 

And  sad  it  is  to  take  a  screio. 

Harv.  Reg.,  p.  287. 

SCREW.  To  press  with  an  excessive  and  unnecessarily  mi- 
nute examination. 

Who  would  let  a  tutor  knave 
Screw  him  like  a  Guinea  slave ! 

Rehelliad,  p.  53. 

Have  I  been  screwed,  yea,  deaded  morn  and  eve. 
Some  dozen  moons  of  this  collegiate  life  ? 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  HI.  p.  255. 

O,  I  do  well  remember  when  in  college. 
How  we  fought  reason ,  —  battles  all  in  play,  — 
Under  a  most  portentous  man  of  knowledge, 
'XhQ  captain-general  in  the  bloodless  fray  ; 
23 


266  COLLEGE    WORDS 

He  was  a  wise  man,  and  a  good  man,  too, 

And  robed  himself  in  green  whene'er  he  came  to  screw. 

Our  Chronicle  of '26,  Boston,  1827. 

In  a  note  to  the  last  quotation,  the  author  says  of  the 
word  screw  :  "  For  the  information  of  the  inexperienced,  we 
explain  this  as  a  term  quite  rife  in  the  universities,  and, 
taken  substantively,  signifying  an  intellectual  non-plus." 

SCROUGE.  An  exaction.  A  very  long  lesson,  or  any  hard 
or  unpleasant  task,  is  usually  among  students  denominated  a 
scrouge, 

SCROUGE.  To  exact ;  to  extort ;  said  of  an  instructor  who 
imposes  difficult  tasks  on  his  pupils. 

It  is  used  provincially  in  England,  and  in  America  in 
some  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  States,  with  the  mean- 
ing to  crowds  to  squeeze.  —  Bartletf^s  Diet,  of  American^ 
isms. 

SCRUTATOR.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England, 
an  officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  attend  all  Congregations^  to 
read  the  graces  to  the  lower  house  of  the  senate,  to  gather 
the  votes  secretly,  or  to  take  them  openly  in  scrutiny,  and 
publicly  to  pronounce  the  assent  or  dissent  of  that  house.  — 
Cam.  Cal. 

SECOND-YEAR  MEN.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
England,  the  title  of  Second-Year  Men^  or  Junior  Sophs  or 
Sophisters^  is  given  to  students  during  the  second  year  of 
their  residence  at  the  University. 

SEED.     In  Yale  College  this  word  is  used  to  designate  what 
is   understood  by   the   common    cant  terms,    ''  a   youth " ; 
"  case  "  ;  "  bird  "  ;  "  b'hoy  "  ;  "  one  of  'em." 
While  tutors,  every  sport  defeating, 
And  under  feet-worn  stairs  secreting. 
And  each  dark  lane  and  alley  beating, 
Hunt  up  the  seeds  in  vain  retreating. 

Yale  Banger,  Nov.,  1849. 
The  wretch  had  dared  to  flunk  a  gory  seed! 

Ibid.,  Nov.,  1849. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  267 

One  tells  his  jokes,  the  other  tells  his  beads, 
One  talks  of  saints,  the  other  sings  oi  seeds. 

Ibid,,  Nov.,  1849. 
But  we  are  "  seed^,^^  whose  rowdy  deeds 
Make  up  the  drunken  tale. 

Yale  Tomahawk,  Nov.,  1849. 
First  Greek  he  enters  ;  and  with  reckless  speed, 
He  drags  o'er  stumps  and  roots  each  hapless  seed. 

Ibid,,  Nov.,  1849. 
SEEDY.     Rowdy  ;  riotous  ;  turbulent. 

And  snowballs,  falling  thick  and  fast 
As  oaths  from  seedy  Senior  crowd. 

Yale  Gallinipper,  Nov.,  1848. 
A  seedy  Soph  beneath  a  tree. 

Yale  Battery,  Feb.,  1850. 

SELL.     An  unexpected  reply  ;  a  deception  or  trick. 

In  the  Literary  World,  March  15,  1851,  is  the  following 
explanation  of  this  word  :  "  Mr.  Phillips's  first  introduction 
to  Curran  was  made  the  occasion  of  a  mystification,  or  prac- 
tical joke,  in  which  Irish  wits  have  excelled  since  the  time 
of  Dean  Swift,  who  was  wont  {vide  his  letters  to  Stella)  to 
call  these  jocose  tricks  '  a  sell,'*  from  selling  a  bargain." 
The  word  bargain,  however,  which  Johnson,  in  his  Diction- 
ary, defines  "  an  unexpected  reply  tending  to  obscenity," 
was  formerly  used  more  generally  among  the  English  wits. 
The  noun  sell  has  of  late  been  revived  in  this  country,  and 
is  used  to  a  certain  extent  in  New  York  and  Boston,  and 
especially  among  the  students  at  Cambridge. 

I  sought  some  hope  to  borrow,  by  thinking  it  a  **  sell,*^ 
By  fancying  it  a  fiction,  my  anguish  to  dispel. 

Poem  before  the  ladma  of  Harv.  Coll.,  1850,  p.  8. 

SELL.  To  give  an  unexpected  answer  ;  to  deceive  ;  to  cheat. 
The  use  of  this  verb  is  much  more  common  in  the  United 
States  than  that  of  the  noun  of  the  same  spelling,  which  is 
derived  from  it ;  for  instance,  we  frequently  read  in  the 
newspapers  that  the  Whigs  or  Democrats  have  been  sold^ 
i.  e.  defeated  in  an  election,  or  cheated  in  some  political  affair. 
The  phrase  to  sell  a  bargain,  which  Bailey  defines  "  to  put  a 


268  COLLEGE   WORDS 

sham  upon  one,"  is  now  scarcely  ever  heard.     It  was  once 
a  favorite  expression  with  certain  English  writers. 

Where  sold  he  bargains,  Whipstitch  1  —  Dry  den. 
No  maid  at  court  is  less  ashamed, 
Howe'er  for  selling  bargains  famed.  —  Swift. 
Dr.  Sheridan,  famous  for  punning,  intending  to  sell  a  bargain, 
said,  he  had  made  a  very  good  pun.  -—  Swift,  Bons  Mots  de  Stella. 

SEMESTER.  Latin,  semestris,  sex,  six,  and  mensis,  month. 
In  the  German  universities,  a  period  or  term  of  six  months. 
The  course  of  instruction  occupies  six  semesters.  Class  dis- 
tinctions depend  upon  the  number  of  semesters,  not  of  years. 
During  the  first  semester,  the  student  is  called  Fox,  in  the 
second  Burnt  Fox,  and  then,  successively,  Young  Bursch, 
Old  Bursch,  Old  Hoicse,  and  Moss-covered  Head. 

SENATE.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  the 
governing  body  of  the  University.  It  is  divided  into  two 
houses,  denominated  regents  (regentes)  and  non-regents 
(non-regentes).  The  former  consists  of  masters  of  arts  of 
less  than  five  years'  standing,  and  doctors  of  less  than  two, 
and  is  called  the  upper  house,  or  white-hood  house,  from  its 
members  wearing  hoods  lined  with  white  silk.  All  other 
masters  and  doctors  who  keep  their  names  on  the  college 
books  are  non-regents,  and  compose  the  lower  house,  or 
hlack'hood  house,  its  members  wearing  black  silk  hoods.  — 
Webster,     Cam.  Cal. 

SENATE.  At  Union  College,  the  members  of  the  Senior 
Class  form  what  is  called  the  Senate,  a  body  organized  after 
the  manner  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  forms  and  practice  of 
legislation.  The  members  of  the  Junior  Class  compose  the 
House  of  Representatives.  The  following  account,  showing 
in  what  manner  the  Senate  is  conducted,  has  been  furnished 
by  a  member  of  Union  College. 

"  On  the  last  Friday  of  the  third  term,  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives meet  in  their  hall,  and  await  their  initiation  to 
the   Upper  House.      There   soon  appears  a  committee  of 


AND   CUSTOMS.  269 

three,  who  inform  them  by  their  chairman  of  the  readiness 
of  the  Senate  to  receive  them,  and  perhaps  enlarge  upon  the 
importance  of  the  coming  trust,  and  the  ability  of  the  House 
to  fill  it. 

"  When  this  has  been  done,  the  House,  headed  by  the 
Committee,  proceed  to  the  Senate  Chamber  (Senior  Chapel), 
and  are  arranged  by  the  committee  around  the  President, 
the  Senators  (Seniors)  meanwhile  having  taken  the  second 
floor.  The  President  of  the  Senate  then  rises  and  delivers  an 
appropriate  address,  informing  them  of  their  new  dignities 
and  the  grave  responsibilities  of  their  station.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  this  they  take  their  seats,  and  proceed  to  the  elec- 
tion of  officers,  viz.  a  President,  a  Vice-President,  Secretary, 
and  Treasurer.  The  President  must  be  a  member  of  the 
Faculty,  and  is  chosen  for  a  term ;  the  other  officers  are 
selected  from  the  House,  and  continue  in  office  but  half  a 
term.  The  first  Vice-Presidency  of  the  Senate  is  considered 
one  of  the  highest  honors  conferred  by  the  class,  and  great 
is  the  strife  to  obtain  it. 

"  The  Senate  meet  again  on  the  second  Friday  of  the 
next  term,  when  they  receive  the  inaugural  message  of  the 
President.  He  then  divides  them  into  seven  districts,  each 
district  including  the  students  residing  in  a  Section,  or  Hall 
of  College,  except  the  seventh,  which  is  filled  by  the  students 
lodging  in  town.  The  Senate  is  also  divided  into  a  number 
of  standing  committees,  as  Law,  Ethics,  Political  Economy. 
Business  is  referred  to  these  committees,  and  reported  on  by 
them  in  the  usual  manner.  The  time  of  the  Senate  is  prin- 
cipally occupied  with  the  discussion  of  resolutions,  in  a  com- 
mittee of  the  whole  ;  and  these  discussions  take  the  place  of 
the  usual  Friday  afternoon  recitation.  At  Commencement 
the  Senate  have  an  orator  of  their  own  election,  who  must, 
however,  have  been  a  past  or  honorary  member  of  their 
body.  They  also  have  a  committee  on  the  '  Commence- 
ment Card.'  " 

See  Commencement  Card  ;  House  of  Representatives. 

SENE.     An  abbreviation  for  Senior. 
23* 


270  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Magnificent  Juns,  and  lazy  Senes,  —  Yale  Banger ,  Nov.  10,  1846. 
A  rare  young  blade  is  the  gallant  Sene. 

Ibid.,  Nov.,  1850. 

SENIOR.     One  in  the  fourth  year  of  his  collegiate  course  at 
an  American   college ;   originally  called  Senior  Sophister, 
Also  one  in  the  third  year  of  his  course  at  a  theological 
seminary. —  Wehster. 
See  Sophister. 

SENIOR.  Noting  the  fourth  year  of  the  collegiate  course  in 
the  American  colleges,  or  the  third  year  in  theological  semi- 
naries. —  Wehster. 

SENIOR  BACHELOR.  One  who  is  in  his  third  year  after 
taking  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  It  is  further  explained 
by  President  VVoolsey,  in  his  Historical  Discourse  :  "  Bache- 
lors were  called  Senior,  Middle,  or  Junior  Bachelors  accord- 
ing to  the  year  since  graduation  and  before  taking  the  degree 
of  Master."— p.  122. 

SENIORITY.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  the 
eight  senior  Fellows  and  the  Master  of  a  college  compose 
what  is  called  the  Seniority.  Their  decisions  in  all  matters 
are  generally  conclusive. 

My  duty  now  obliges  me,  however  reluctantly,  to  bring  you  be- 
fore the  Seniority,  —  Alma  Mater,  Vol.  I.  p.  75. 

SENIOR  ORATION.  "The  custom  of  delivering  Senior 
Orations^''''  says  a  correspondent,  "  is,  I  think,  confined  to 
Washington  and  Jefferson  Colleges  in  Pennsylvania.  Each 
member  of  the  Senior  Class,  taking  them  in  alphabetical  or- 
der, is  required  to  deliver  an  oration  before  graduating,  and 
on  such  nights  as  the  Faculty  may  decide.  The  public  are 
invited  to  attend,  and  the  speaking  is  continued  at  appointed 
times,  until  each  member  of  the  Class  has  spoken." 

SENIOR  WRANGLER.     See  Wrangler. 

SEQUESTER.  To  cause  to  retire  or  withdraw  into  ob- 
scurity. In  the  following  passage  it  is  used  in  the  collegiate 
sense  of  suspend  or  rusticate. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  ^f% 

Though  they  were  adulti,  they  were  corrected  in  the  College, 
and  sequestered f  Sic,  for  a  time. —  Winthrop^s  Journal^  by  Sav- 
age, Vol.  II.  p.  88. 

SERVITOR.  In  the  University  of  Oxford,  an  undergraduate 
who  is  partly  supported  by  the  college  funds.  They  for- 
merly waited  at  table,  but  this  is  now  dispensed  with.  The 
order  similar  to  that  of  the  servitor  was  at  Cambridge  styled 
the  order  of  suhsizars.  This  has  been  long  extinct.  The 
sizar  at  Cambridge  is  at  present  nearly  equivalent  to  the 
Oxford  servitor,  —  Gent.  Mag.^  1787,  p.  1146.    Brande, 

A  reference  to  the  cruel  custom  of*  hunting  the  servitor" 
is  to  be  found  in  Sir  John  Hawkins's  Life  of  Dr.  Johnson, 
p.  12. 

SESSION.  At  some  of  the  Southern  and  Western  colleges  of 
the  United  States,  the  time  during  which  instruction  is  reg- 
ularly given  to  the  students  ;  a  term. 

The  session  commences  on  the  1st  of  October,  and  continues  with- 
out interruption  until  the  29th  of  June.  —  Ckit.  of  Univ,  of  Vir- 
ginia,  1851,  p.  15. 

SEVENTY-EIGHTH  PSALM.  The  recollections  which 
cluster  around  this  Psalm,  so  well  known  to  all  the  Alumni 
of  Harvard,  are  of  the  most  pleasant  nature.  For  more 
than  a  hundred  years,  it  has  been  sung  at  the  dinner  given 
on  Commencement  day  at  Cambridge,  and  for  a  half-cen- 
tury to  the  tune  of  St.  Martin's.  Mr.  Samuel  Shapleigh,  who 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  the  year  1789,  and  who 
was  afterwards  its  Librarian,  on  the  leaf  of  a  hymn-book 
makes  a  memorandum  in  reference  to  this  Psalm,  to  the 
effect  that  it  has  been  sung  at  Cambridge  on  Commencement 
day  "  from  time  immemorial y  The  late  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Pierce,  a  graduate  of  the  class  of  1793,  referring  to  the 
same  subject,  remarks  :  "  The  Seventy-eighth  Psalm,  it  is 
supposed,  has,  from  the  foundation  of  the  College^  been 
sung  in  the  common  version  of  the  day."  In  a  poem,  en- 
titled Education,  delivered  at  Cambridge  before  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  Society,  by  Mr.  William  Biglow,  July  18th,  1799, 
speaking  of  the  conduct  and  manners  of  the  students,  the 
author  says  :  — 


272  COLLEGE    WORDS 

"  Like  pigs  they  eat,  they  drink  an  ocean  dry, 
They  steal  like  France,  like  Jacobins  they  lie, 
They  raise  the  very  Devil,  when  called  to  prayers, 
*  To  sons  transmit  the  same,  and  they  again  to  theirs  '  "  ; 

and,  in  explanation  of  the  last  line,  adds  this  note  :  "  Allud- 
ing to  the  Psalm  which  is  always  sung  in  Harvard  Hall  on 
Commencement  day."  But  that  we  cannot  take  these  ac- 
counts as  correct  in  their  full  extent,  appears  from  an  entry 
in  the  MS.  Diary  of  Chief  Justice  Sewall  relating  to  a  Com- 
mencement in  1685,  which  he  closes  with  these  words: 
"  After  Dinner  y^  3d  part  of  y^  103d  Ps.  was  sung  in  y^ 
Hall." 

In  the  year  1793,  at  the  dinner  on  Commencement  Day, 
the  Rev.  Joseph  Willard,  then  President  of  the  College,  re- 
quested Mr.,  afterwards  Dr.  John  Pierce,  to  set  the  tune  to 
the  Psalm  ;  with  which  request  having  complied  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  all  present,  he  from  that  period  until  the  time  of 
his  death,  in  1849,  performed  this  service,  being  absent  only 
on  one  occasion.  Those  who  have  attended  Commencement 
dinners  during  the  latter  part  of  this  period  cannot  but  asso- 
ciate with  this  hallowed  Psalm  the  venerable  appearance  and 
the  benevolent  countenance  of  this  excellent  man. 

In  presenting  a  list  of  the  different  versions  in  which  this 
Psalm  has  been  sung,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  entire 
correctness  has  been  reached  ;  the  very  scanty  accounts 
which  remain  render  this  almost  impossible,  but  from  these, 
which  on  a  question  of  greater  importance  might  be  con- 
sidered hardly  sufficient,  it  would  appear  that  the  following 
are  the  versions  in  which  the  sons  of  Harvard  have  been  ac- 
customed to  sing  the  Psalm  of  the  son  of  Jesse. 

1.  —  The  New  England  Version. 

"  In  1639  there  was  an  agreement  amo.  y**  Magistrates 
and  Ministers  to  set  aside  y^  Psalms  then  printed  at  y*  end  of 
their  Bibles,  and  sing  one  more  congenial  to  their  ideas  of 
religion."  Rev.  Mr.  Richard  Mather  of  Dorchester,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  Weld  and  Rev.  Mr.  John  Eliot  of  Rox- 
bury,  were  selected  to  make  a  metrical  translation,  to  whom 


AND    CUSTOMS.  273 

the  Rev.  Thomas  Shepard  of  Cambridge  gives  the  following 
metrical  caution  :  — 

**  Ye  Roxbury  poets,  keep  clear  of  y®  crime 
Of  missing  to  give  us  very  good  rhyme, 
And  you  of  Dorchester,  your*  verses  lengthen, 
But  with  the  texts  ovi^n  words  you  will  y""  strengthen." 
The  version  of  this  ministerial  trio  was  printed  in  the  year 
1640,  at  Cambridge,  and  has  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
production  of  the  American  press  that  rises  to  the  dignity  of 
a  hook.  It  was  entitled,  "  The  Psalms  newly  turned  into 
Metre."  A  second  edition  was  printed  in  1647.  "  It  was 
more  to  be  commended,  however,"  says  Mr.  Peirce,  in  his 
History  of  Harvard  University,  '*  for  its  fidelity  to  the  text, 
than  for  the  elegance  of  its  versification,  which,  having  been 
executed  by  persons  of  different  tastes  and  talents,  was  not 
only  very  uncouth,  but  deficient  in  uniformity.  President 
Dunster,  who  was  an  excellent  Oriental  scholar,  and  pos- 
sessed the  other  requisite  qualifications  for  the  task,  was  em- 
ployed to  revise  and  polish  it ;  and  in  two  or  three  years, 
with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Richard  Lyon,  a  young  gentle- 
man who  was  sent  from  England  by  Sir  Henry  Mildmay  to 
attend  his  son,  then  a  student  in  Harvard  College,  he  pro- 
duced a  work,  which,  under  the  appellation  of  the  '  Bay 
Psalm-Book,'  was,  for  a  long  time,  the  received  version  in 
the  New  England  congregations,  was  also  used  in  many  so- 
cieties in  England  and  Scotland,  and  passed  through  a  great 
number  of  editions,  both  at  home  and  abroad." —  p.  14. 

The  Seventy-eighth  Psalm   is  thus  rendered  in  the  first 
edition :  — 

Give  listning  eare  unto  my  law, 

Yee  people  that  are  mine, 

Unto  the  sayings  of  my  mouth 

Doe  yee  your  eare  incline. 

My  mouth  I  'le  ope,  in  parables, 

I  'le  speak  hid  things  of  old  : 
Which  we  have  heard,  and  knowne :  and  which 

Our  fathers  have  us  told. 

Them  from  their  children  wee  '1  not  hide, 
To  th'  after  age  shewing 


274  COLLEGE   WORDS 

The  Lords  prayses  :  his  streng^ih,  and  works 
Of  his  wondrous  doing. 

In  Jacob  he  a  witnesse  set, 

And  put  in  Israeli 
A  law,  which  he  our  fathers  charg'd, 

They  should  their  children  tell : 

That  th'  age  to  come,  and  children  which 

Are  to  be  borne  might  know  ; 
That  they  might  rise  up  and  the  same 

Unto  their  children  show. 

That  they  upon  the  mighty  God 

Their  confidence  might  set : 
And  Gods  works  and  his  commandment 

Might  keep  and  not  forget, 

And  might  not  like  their  fathers  be, 

A  stiffe,  stout  race  ;  a  race 
That  set  not  right  their  hearts :  nor  firme 

With  God  their  spirit  was. 

The  Bay  Psalm-Book  underwent  many  changes  in  the 
various  editions  through  which  it  passed,  nor  was  this  psalm 
left  untouched,  as  will  be  seen  by  referring  to  the  twenty-sixth 
edition,  published  in  1744,  and  to  the  edition  of  1758,  revised 
and  corrected,  with  additions,  by  Mr.  Thomas  Prince. 

2.  —  Waits'^s  Version. 
The  Psalms  and  Hymns  of  Dr.  Isaac  Watts  were  first  pub- 
lished in  this  country  by  Dr.  Franklin,  in  the  year  1741. 
His  version  is  as  follows  :  — 

Let  children  hear  the  mighty  deeds 

Which  God  performed  of  old ; 
Which  in  our  younger  years  we  saw, 

And  which  our  fathers  told. 

He  bids  us  make  his  glories  known, 

His  works  of  power  and  grace, 
And  we  '11  convey  his  wonders  down 

Through  every  rising  race. 

Our  lips  shall  tell  them  to  our  sons. 
And  they  again  to  theirs, 


AND   CUSTOMS.  275 

That  generations  yet  unborn 
May  teach  thera  to  their  heirs. 

Thus  shall  they  learn  in  God  alone 

Their  hope  securely  stands, 
That  they  may  ne'er  forget  his  works, 

But  practise  his  commands, 

3.  —  Brady  and  Tate^s  Version, 
In  the  year  1803,  the  Seventy-eighth  Psalm  was  first 
printed  on  a  snnall  sheet  and  placed  under  every  plate, 
which  practice  has  since  been  always  adopted.  The  version 
of  that  year  was  from  Brady  and  Tate's  collection,  first  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1698,  and  in  this  country  about  the  year 
1741.  It  was  sung  to  the  tune  of  St.  Martin's  in  1805,  as 
appears  from  a  memorandum  in  ink  on  the  back  of  one  of 
the  sheets  for  that  year,  which  reads,  *'  Sung  in  the  hall. 
Commencement  Day,  tune  St.  Martin's,  1805."  From  the 
statements  of  graduates  of  the  last  century,  it  seems  that  this 
had  been  the  customary  tune  for  some  time  previous  to  this 
year,  and  it  is  still  retained  as  a  precious  legacy  of  the  past. 
St.  Martin's  was  composed  by  William  Tans'ur  in  the  year 
1735.     The  following  is  the  version  of  Brady  and  Tate  :  — 

Hear,  O  my  people,  to  my  law, 

Devout  attention  lend ; 
Let  the  instruction  of  my  mouth 

Deep  in  your  hearts  descend. 

My  tongue,  by  inspiration  taught, 

Shall  parables  unfold, 
Dark  oracles,  but  understood. 

And  owned  for  truths  of  old  ; 

Which  we  from  sacred  registers 

Of  ancient  times  have  known, 
And  our  forefathers'  pious  care 

To  us  has  handed  down. 

We  will  not  hide  them  from  our  sons  ; 

Our  offspring  shall  be  taught 
The  praises  of  the  Lord,  whose  strength 

Has  works  of  wonders  wroutjht. 


276  COLLEGE   WORDS 

For  Jacob  he  this  law  ordained, 

This  league  with  Israel  made  ; 
With  charge,  to  be  from  age  to  age, 

From  race  to  race,  conveyed, 

That  generations  yet  to  come 

Should  to  their  unborn  heirs 
Religiously  transmit  the  same, 

And  they  again  to  theirs. 

To  teach  them  that  in  God  alone 

Their  hope  securely  stands  ; 
That  they  should  ne'er  his  works  forget. 

But  keep  his  just  commands. 

4.  —  From  Belknap^ s  Collection, 
This  collection  was  first  published  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jeremy 
Belknap,  at  Boston,  in  1795.  The  version  of  the  Seventy- 
eighth  Psalm  is  partly  from  that  of  Brady  and  Tate,  and 
partly  from  Dr.  Watts's,  with  a  few  slight  variations.  It 
succeeded  the  version  of  Brady  and  Tate  about  the  year 
1820,  and  is  the  one  which  is  now  used.  The  first  three 
stanzas  were  written  by  Brady  and  Tate  ;  the  last  three  by 
Dr.  Watts.  It  has  of  late  been  customary  to  omit  the  last 
stanza  in  singing  and  in  printing. 

Give  ear,  ye  children  ;  *  to  my  law 

Devout  attention  lend  ; 
Let  the  instructions  f  of  my  mouth 

Deep  in  your  hearts  descend. 

My  tongue,  by  inspiration  taught, 

Shall  parables  unfold  ; 
Dark  oracles,  but  understood. 

And  owned  for  truths  of  old  ; 

Which  we  from  sacred  registers 

Of  ancient  times  have  known. 
And  our  forefathers'  pious  care 

To  us  has  handed  down. 


*  In  Brady  and  Tate,  *  Hear,  O  my  people,"  etc. 
t  In  Brady  and  Tate,  "instruction." 


AND   CUSTOMS.  277 

Let  children  learn  *  the  mighty  deeds 

Which  God  performed  of  old  ; 
Which,  in  our  younger  years,  we  saw, 

And  which  our  fathers  told. 

Our  lips  shall  tell  them  to  our  sons, 

And  they  again  to  theirs ; 
That  generations  yet  unborn 

May  teach  them  to  their  heirs. 

Thus  shall  they  learn  in  God  alone 

Their  hope  securely  stands  ; 
That  they  may  ne'er  forget  his  works, 

But  practise  his  commands. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  the  version  of  the 
Seventy-eighth  Psalm  by  Sternhold  and  Hopkins,  whose  spir- 
itual songs  were  usually  printed,  as  appears  above,  "  at  y* 
end  of  their  Bibles,"  was  the  first  which  was  sung  at  Com- 
mencement dinners  ;  but  this  does  not  seem  at  all  probable, 
since  the  first  Commencement  at  Cambridge  did  not  take 
place  until  1642,  at  which  time  the  "  Bay  Psalm-Book,'' 
written  by  three  of  the  most  popular  ministers  of  the  day, 
had   already  been  published  two  years. 

SHEEPSKIN.  The  parchment  diploma  received  by  students 
on  taking  their  degree  at  college.  "  In  the  back  settlements 
are  many  clergymen  who  have  not  had  the  advantages 
of  a  liberal  education,  and  who  consequently  have  no  di- 
plomas. Some  of  these  look  upon  their  more  favored 
brethren  with  a  little  envy.  A  clergyman  is  said  to  have 
a  sheepskin^  or  to  be  a  sheepskin^  when  educated  at  college." 

—  Bartlett'^s  Diet,  of  Americanisms, 

This  apostle  of  ourn  never  rubbed  his  back  agin  a  college,  nor 
toted  about  no  sheepskins,  —  no,  never !  .  .  .  .  How  you  'd  a  perished 
in  your  sins,  if  the  first  preachers  had  stayed  till  they  got  sheepskins, 

—  Carlton's  New  Purchase. 

I  can  say  as  well  as  the  best  on  them  sheepskins,  if  you  don't  get 
religion  and  be  saved,  you  '11  be  lost,  teetotally  and  for  ever.  —  {Ser- 
mon of  an  Itinerant  Preacher  at  a  Camp-Meeting.)  —  Ibid. 

*  Watts,  "  hear." 

24 


278  COLLEGE    WORDS 

As  for  John  Prescot,  he  not  only  lost  the  valedictory,  but  barely 
escaped  with  his  '*  sheepskin.^ ^  —  Yale  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol.  X.  p.  74. 

SHIN.  To  tease  or  hector  a  person  by  kicking  his  shins.  In 
some  colleges  this  is  one  of  the  means  which  the  Sopho- 
mores adopt  to  torment  the  Freshmen,  especially  when  play- 
ing at  football,  or  other  similar  games. 

We  have  been  shinned,  smoked,  ducked,  and  accelerated  by  the 
encouraging  shouts  of  our  generous  friends.  —  Yale  Banger,  Nov. 
10,  1846. 

SHINE.  At  Harvard  College  this  word  was  formerly  used  to 
designate  a  good  recitation.  Used  in  the  phrase,  "  to  make 
a  shine,'*'' 

SHINNY.  At  Princeton  College,  the  game  of  Shinny^  known 
also  by  the  names  of  Hawky  and  Hurly^  is  as  great  a 
favorite  with  the  students  as  is  football  at  other  colleges. 
"  The  players,"  says  a  correspondent,  "  are  each  furnished 
with  a  stick  four  or  five  feet  in  length  and  one  and  a  half 
or  two  inches  in  diameter,  curved  at  one  end,  the  object 
of  which  is  to  give  the  ball  a  surer  blow.  The  ball  is  about 
three  inches  in  diameter,  bound  with  thick  leather.  The 
players  are  divided  into  two  parties,  arranged  along  from  one 
goal  to  the  other.  The  ball  is  then  ''bucked '  by  two  players, 
one  from  each  side,  which  is  done  by  one  of  these  two  taking 
the  ball  and  asking  his  opponent  which  he  will  have,  '  high, 
or  low '  ;  if  he  says  '  high,'  the  ball  is  thrown  up  mid- 
way between  them  ;  if  he  says  '  low,'  the  ball  is  thrown  on 
the  ground.  The  game  is  opened  by  a  scuffle  between  these 
two  for  the  ball.  The  other  players  then  join  in,  one  party 
knocking  towards  North  College,  which  is  one  '  home  '  (as 
it  is  termed),  and  the  other  towards  the  fence  bounding  the 
south  side  of  the  Campus,  the  other  home.  Whichever 
party  first  gets  the  ball  home  wins  the  game.  A  grand 
contest  takes  place  annually  between  the  Juniors  and  Soph- 
omores, in  this  game." 

SHIP.  At  Emory  College,  Ga.,  one  expelled  from  college  is 
said  to  be  shipped. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  279 

SHORT  EAR.  At  Jefferson  College,  Penn.,  a  soubriquet  for 
a  roistering,  noisy  fellow  ;  a  rowdy.    Opposed  ito  long  ear, 

SIR.  It  was  formerly  the  fashion  in  the  older  American  col- 
leges to  call  a  Bachelor  of  Arts,  Sir ;  this  was  sometimes 
done  at  the  time  when  the  Seniors  were  accepted  for  that 
degree. 

Voted,  Sept.  5th,  1763,  *' that  Sir  Sewall,  B.  A.,  be  the  In- 
structor in  the  Hebrew  and  other  learned  languages  for  three 
years."  —  Peirce^s  Hist,  Harv.  Univ.,  p.  234. 

December,  1790.  Some  time  in  this  month.  Sir  Adams  resigned 
the  berth  of  Butler,  and  Sir  Samuel  Shapleigh  was  chosen  in  his 
stead .  —  MS.  Journal,  Harv,  Coll, 

Then  succeeded  Cliosophic  Oration  in  Latin,  by  Sir  Meigs. 
Poetical  Composition  in  English,  by  Sir  Barlow, —  Woolsei/'^s  Hist. 
Disc,  p.  121. 

SITTING  OF  THE  SOLSTICES.  It  was  customary,  in  the 
early  days  of  Harvard  College,  for  the  graduates  of  the 
year  to  attend  in  the  recitation-room  on  Mondays  and  Tues- 
days, for  three  weeks,  during  the  month  of  June,  subject  to 
the  examination  of  all  who  chose  to  visit  them.  This 
was  called  the  Sitting  of  the  Solstices^  because  it  hap- 
pened in  midsummer,  or  at  the  time  of  the  summer  solstice. 
The  time  was  also  known  as  the  Weeks  of  Visitation. 

SIZAR,  J  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  a  student 
SISAR,  V  of  the  third  rank,  or  that  next  below  that  of  a 
SIZER.  )  pensioner,  who  eats  at  the  public  table  after  the 
fellows,  free  of  expense.  It  was  formerly  customary  for 
every  fellow-commoner  to  have  his  sizar^  to  whom  he  allowed 
a  certain  portion  of  commons,  or  victuals  and  drink  weekly, 
but  no  money ;  and  for  this  the  sizar  was  obliged  to  do  him 
certain  services  daily. 

A  lower  order  of  students  were  called  suh-sizars.  In 
reference  to  this  class,  we  take  the  following  from  the  Gen- 
tleman's Magazine,  1787,  p.  1146.  "At  King's  College, 
they  were  styled  hounds.  The  situation  of  a  sub-sizar 
being  looked  upon  in  so  degrading  a  light  probably  occa- 
sioned the  extinction  of  the  order.     But  as  the  sub-sizars 


280  COLLEGE    WORDS 

had  certain  assistances  in  return  for  their  humiliating  services, 
and  as  the  poverty  of  parents  stood  in  need  of  such  assist- 
ances for  their  sons,  some  of  the  sizars  undertook  the  same 
offices  for  the  same  advantages.  The  master's  sizar,  there- 
fore, waited  upon  him  for  the  sake  of  his  commons,  etc.,  as 
the  sub-sizar  had  done ;  and  the  other  sizars  did  the  same 
office  to  the  fellows  for  the  advantage  of  the  remains  of  their 
commons.  Thus  the  term  sub-sizar  became  forgotten,  and 
the  sizar  was  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  the  servitor.  But 
if  a  sizar  did  not  choose  to  accept  of  these  assistances  upon 
such  degrading  terms,  he  dined  in  his  own  room,  and  was 
called  a  proper  sizar.  He  wore  the  same  gown  as  the 
others,  and  his  tutorage,  etc.,  was  no  higher  ;  but  there  was 
nothing  servile  in  his  situation."  —  "  Now,  indeed,  all  (or 
almost  all)  the  colleges  in  Cambridge  have  allowed  the 
sizars  every  advantage  of  the  remains  of  the  fellows'  com- 
mons, etc.,  though  they  have  very  liberally  exempted  them 
from  every  servile  office." 

Another  writer  in  the  same  periodical;  1795,  p.  21,  says: 
The  sizar  "  is  very  much  like  the  scholars  at  Westminster, 
Eton,  &c.,  who  are  on  the  foundation ;  and  is,  in  a  manner, 
the  half  hoarder  in  private  academies.  The  name  was 
derived  from  the  menial  services  in  which  he  was  occasion- 
ally engaged  ;  being  in  former  days  compelled  to  transport 
the  plates,  dishes,  sizes ^  and  platters,  to  and  from  the  tables 
of  his  superiors." 

A  writer  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  at  the  close  of 
the  article  Sizar,  says  of  this  class  :  "  But  though  their  edu- 
cation is  thus  obtained  at  a  less  expense,  they  are  not  now 
considered  as  a  menial  order  ;  for  sizars,  pensioner-schol- 
ars, and  even  sometimes  fellow-commoners,  mix  together 
with  the  utmost  cordiality." 

SIZE.     Food  and  drink  from  the  buttery,  aside  from  the  regu- 
lar dinner  at  commons. 

"  A  size,"  says  Minsheu,  "is  a  portion  of  bread  or  drinke, 
it  is  a  farthing  which  schollers  in  Cambridge  have  at  the 
buttery  ;  it  is  noted  with  the  letter  S.  as  in  Oxford  with  the 


AND   CUSTOMS.  28^1 

letter  Q.  for  halfe  a  farthing ;  and  whereas  they  say  in 
Oxford,  to  battle  in  the  Buttery  Booke,  i.  e.  to  set  downe  on 
their  names  what  they  take  in  bread,  drinke,  butter,  cheese, 
&c. ;  so,  in  Cambridge,  they  say,  to  size^  i.  e.  to  set  downe 
their  quantum,  i.  e.  how  much  they  take  on  their  name  in 
the  Buttery  Booke." 

In  the  Poems  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dodd,  a  size  of  bread  is 
described  as  "  half  a  half-penny  '  roll.'  "  Grose,  also,  in 
the  Provincial  Glossary,  says  "  it  signifies  the  half  part  of  a 
half-penny  loaf,  and  comes  from  scindo^  I  cut." 

In  the  Encyclopsedia  Britannica  is  the  following  explana- 
tion of  this  term.  "  A  size  of  any  thing  is  the  smallest 
quantity  of  that  thing  which  can  be  thus  bought "  [i.  e.  by 
students  in  addition  to  their  commons  in  the  hall]  ;  "  two 
sizes,  or  a  part  of  beef,  being  nearly  equal  to  what  a  young 
person  will  eat  of  that  dish  to  his  dinner,  and  a  size  of  ale  or 
beer  being  equal  to  half  an  English  pint."  It  would  seem, 
then,  that  formerly  a  size  was  a  small  platefull  of  any  eat- 
able ;  the  word  now  means  any  thing  had  by  students  at 
dinner  over  and  above  the  usual  commons. 

Of  its  derivation  Webster  remarks,  "  Either  contracted 
from  assize,  or  from  the  Latin  scissus,  I  take  it  to  be  from 
the  former,  and  from  the  sense  of  setting,  as  we  apply  the 
word  to  the  assize  of  bread." 

This  word  was  introduced  into  the  older  American  col- 
leges from  Cambridge,  England,  and  was  used  for  many 
years,  as  was  also  the  word  sizing,  with  the  same  meaning. 
In  1750,  the  Corporation  of  Harvard  College  voted,  "  that 
the  quantity  of  commons  be,  as  hath  been  usual,  viz.  two 
sizes  of  bread  in  the  morning ;  one  pound  of  meat  at  dinner, 
with  sufficient  sauce  [vegetables],  and  a  half  pint  of  beer  ; 
and  at  night  that  a  part  pie  be  of  the  same  quantity  as  usual, 
and  also  half  a  pint  of  beer ;  and  that  the  supper  messes  be 
but  of  four  parts,  though  the  dinner  messes  be  of  six."  — 
Quincy'^s  Hist.  Harv.  Coll.,  Vol.  II.  p.  97. 

The  students  of  that  day,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  ac- 
counts which  we  have  of  their  poor  commons,  would  have 
24* 


282  COLLEGE    WORDS 

used  far  different  words  in  addressing  the  Faculty,  from 
King  Lear,  who,  speaking  to  his  daughter  Regan,  says  :  — 

'T  is  not  in  thee 

To  grudge  my  pleasures, 

to  scant  my  sizes, 

SIZE.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  to  size  is  to 
order  any  sort  of  victuals  from  the  kitchens  which  the 
students  may  want  in  their  rooms,  or  in  addition  to  their 
commons  in  the  hall,  and  for  which  they  pay  the  cooks  or 
butchers  at  the  end  of  each  quarter  ;  a  word  corresponding 
to  Battel  at  Oxford.  —  Encyc.  Brit, 

In  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1795,  p.  21,  a  writer  says  : 
*'  At  dinner,  to  size  is  to  order  for  yourself  any  little  luxury 
that  may  chance  to  tempt  you  in  addition  to  the  general 
fare,  for  which  you  are  expected  to  pay  the  'cook  at  the  end 
of  the  term." 

This  word  was  formerly  used  in  the  older  American  col- 
leges with  the  meaning  given  above,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
following  extracts  from  the  laws  of  Harvard  and  Yale. 

"  When  they  come  into  town  after  commons,  they  may 
be  allowed  to  size  a  meal  at  the  kitchen."  —  Laws  Harv, 
Coll.,  1798,  p.  39. 

"  At  the  close  of  each  quarter,  the  Butler  shall  make  up 
his  bill  against  each  student,  in  which  every  article  sized  or 
taken  up  by  him  at  the  Buttery  shall  be  particularly 
charged."  —  XaM?5  Yale  Coll.,  1811,  p.  31. 

"  As  a  college  term,"  says  the  Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam, 
"  it  is  of  very  considerable  antiquity.  In  the  comedy  called 
'  The  Return  from  Parnassus,'  1606,  one  of  the  characters 
says,  '  You  that  are  one  of  the  Devil's  Fellow-Commoners  ; 
one  that  sizeth  the  Devil's  butteries,'  &c.  Again,  in  the 
same  :  '  Fidlers,  I  use  to  size  my  music,  or  go  on  the  score 
for  it.'  " 

SIZING.  Food  or  drink  ordered  from  the  buttery  ;  the  act  of 
ordering  food  or  drink  from  the  buttery. 

Dr.  Holyoke,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1746, 
says  :  "  The  breakfast  was  two  sizings  of  bread  and  a  cue  of 


AND   CUSTOMS. 

beer."  Judge  Wingate,  who  graduated  a  little  later,  says : 
"  We  were  allowed  at  dinner  a  cue  of  beer,  which  was  a 
half-pint,  and  a  sizing  of  bread,  which  I  cannot  describe  to 
you.  It  was  quite  sufficient  for  one  dinner."  —  Feirce^s 
Hist.  Harv,  TJniv.^  p.  219. 

From  more  definite  accounts  it  would  seem  that  a  sizing 
of  biscuit  was  one  biscuit,  and  a  sizing  of  cracker,  two 
crackers.  A  certain  amount  of  food  was  allowed  to  each 
mess,  and  if  any  person  wanted  more  than  the  allowance,  it 
was  the  custom  to  tell  the  waiter  to  bring  a  sizing  of  what- 
ever was  wished,  provided  it  was  obtained  from  the  com- 
mons kitchen  ;  for  this  payment  was  made  at  the  close  of 
the  term.  A  sizing  of  cheese  was  nearly  an  ounce,  and  a 
sizing  of  cider  varied  from  a  half-pint  to  a  pint  and  a  half. 

The  Steward  shall,  at  the  close  of  every  quarter,  immediately  fill 
up  the  columns  of  commons  and  sizings,  and  shall  deliver  the  bill, 
&c.  —  Laws  Harv,  ColL^  1798,  p.  58. 

The  Butler  shall  frequently  inspect  his  book  of  sizings. — Ibid,, 
p.  62. 

Whereas  young  scholars,  to  the  dishonor  of  God,  hinderance  of 
their  studies,  and  damage  of  their  friends'  estate,  inconsiderately 
and  intemperately  are  ready  to  abuse  their  liberty  of  sizing  besides 
their  commons  ;  therefore  the  Steward  shall  in  no  case  permit  any 
students  whatever,  under  the  degree  of  Masters  of  Arts,  or  Fel- 
lows, to  expend  or  be  provided  for  themselves  or  any  townsmen  any 
extraordinary  commons,  unless  by  the  allov^^ance  of  the  President, 
&c.,  or  in  case  of  sickness.  —  Orders  written  28th  March,  1650. 
Quincy''s  Hist,  Harv,  Univ.,  Vol.  I  p.  583. 

This  term,  together  with  the  verb  and  noun  size,  which 
had  been  in  use  at  Harvard  and  Yale  Colleges  since  their 
foundation,  has  of  late  been  Utile  heard,  and  with  the  extinc- 
tion of  commons  has,  with  the  others,  fallen  wholly,  and 
probably  for  ever,  into  disuse. 

SIZING  PARTY.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England, 
where  this  term  is  used,  a  "  sizing  party,"^^  says  the  Gradus 
ad  Cantabrigiam,  "  differs  from  a  supper  in  this;  viz.  at  a 
sizing  party  every  one  of  the  guests  contributes  his  part, 
i.  e.  orders   what  he   pleases,  at  his  own  expense,  to  his 


284  COLLEGE    WORDS 

friend's  rooms,  — '  a  part  of  fowl '  or  duck  ;  a  roasted  pig- 
eon; 'a  part  of  apple  pie.'  A  sober  beaker  of  brandy,  or 
rum,  or  Hollands  and  water,  concludes  the  entertainment. 
In  our  days,  a  bowl  of  bishop,  or  milk  punch,  with  a  chant, 
generally  winds  up  the  carousal." 

SKIN.  At  Yale  College,  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  a  lesson  by 
hearing  it  read  by  another ;  also,  to  borrow  another's  ideas 
and  present  them  as  one's  own  ;  to  plagiarize. 

The  tutor  employs  the  crescent  when  it  is  evident  that  the  lesson 
has  been  shinned^  according  to  the  college  vocabulary,  in  which 
case  he  usually  puts  a  minus  sign  after  it,  with  the  mark  which 
he  in  all  probability  would  have  used  had  not  the  lesson  been  shin- 
ned. —  Yale  Banger,  Nov.,  1846. 

Never  skin  a  lesson  which  it  requires  any  ability  to  learn.  — 
Yale  Lit,  Mag.,  Vol.  XV.  p.  81. 

He  has  passively  admitted  what  he  has  skinned  from  other  gram- 
marians. —  Yale  Banger,  Nov.,  1846. 

Perhaps  the  youth  who  so  barefacedly  skinned  the  song  referred 
to,  fondly  fancied,  &c  —  The  Tomahawk,  Nov.,  1849. 

He  uttered  that  remarkable  prophecy  which  Horace  has  so  boldly 
skinned  and  called  his  own.  —  Burial  of  Euclid,  Nov.,  1850. 

To  skin  ahead ;  at  Hamilton  College,  to  read  a  lesson 
over  in  the  class  immediately  before  reciting. 

SKINNING.  Learning  a  lesson  by  hearing  it  read  by  another ; 
plagiarizing. 

Alas  for  our  beloved  orations!  acquired  by  skinning,  looking  on, 
and  ponies.  —  Yale  Banger,  Oct.,  1848. 

SKUNK.  At  Princeton  College,  to  fail  to  pay  a  debt ;  used 
actively  ;  e.  g.  to  skunk  a  tailor,  i.  e.  not  to  pay  him. 

SLEEPING  OVER.  A  phrase  equivalent  to  being  absent 
from  prayers. 

You  may  see  some  who  have  just  arisen  from  their  beds,  where 
they  have  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  '■^sleeping  over.''''  —  Harv.  Reg,, 
p.  202. 

SLUMP.     German  schlump  ;   Danish  and   Swedish  slump ^  a 
hap  or  chance,  accident,  that  is,  a  fall. 
At  Harvard  College,  a  poor  recitation. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  285 

SLUMP.  At  Harvard  College,  to  recite  badly*;  to  make  a 
poor  recitation. 

In  fact,  he  'd  rather  dead  than  dig  ;  he  'd  rather  slump  than  squirt. 
Poem  before  the  Y,  H.  of  Harv.  Coll,  1849. 

Slumping  is  his  usual  custom, 

Deading  is  his  road  to  fame.  —  MS.  Poem, 

The  usual  signification  of  this  word  is  given  by  Webster, 
as  follows  :  "To  fail  or  sink  suddenly  into  water  or  mud, 
when  walking  on  a  hard  surface,  as  on  ice  or  frozen  ground, 
not  strong  enough  to  bear  the  person  "  ;  to  which  he  adds : 
"  This  legitimate  word  is  in  common  and  respectable  use  in 
New  England,  and  its  signification  is  so  appropriate  that  no 
other  word  will  supply  its  place." 

From  this  meaning,  the  transfer  is,  by  analogy,  very  easy 
and  natural,  and  the  application  very  correct,  to  a  poor  reci- 
tation. 

SMASH.  At  the  Wesley  an  University,  a  total  failure  in  re- 
citing is  called  a  smash, 

SMILE.  A  small  quantity  of  any  spirituous  liquor,  or  enough 
to  give  one  a  pleasant  feeling. 

Hast  ta'en  a  *  smile  '  at  Brigham's. 

Poem  before  the  ladma,  1850,  p.  7. 

SMOKE.  In  some  colleges,  one  of  the  means  made  use  of  by 
the  Sophomores  to  trouble  the  Freshmen  is,  to  blow  smoke 
into  their  rooms  until  they  are  compelled  to  leave,  or,  in  other 
words,  until  they  are  smoked  out. 

Or  when,  in  conclave  met,  the  unpitying  wights 
Smoke  the  young  trembler  into  '*  College  rights  "  : 
O,  spare  my  tender  youth  !   he,  suppliant,  cries, 
In  vain,  in  vain  ;  redoubled  clouds  arise. 
While  the  big  tears  adown  his  visage  roll, 
Caused  by  the  smoke,  and  sorrow  of  his  soul. 

College  Life,  by  J.  C.  Richmond,  p.  4. 

They  would  lock  me  in  if  I  left  my  key  outside,  smoke  me  out^ 
duck  me,  &c. —  Sketches  of  Williams  College,  p.  74. 

I  would  not  have  you  sacrifice  all  these  advantages  for  the  sake  of 
smoking  future  Freshmen.  — Burial  of  Euclid,  1850,  p.  10. 


286  COLLEGE    WORDS 

A  correspondent  from  the  University  of  Vermont  gives 
the  following  account  of  a  practical  joke,  which  we  do  not 
suppose  is  very  often  played  in  all  its  parts.  "  They  '  train ' 
Freshmen  in  various  ways ;  the  most  classic  is  to  take  a 
pumpkin,  cut  a  piece  from  the  top,  clean  it,  put  in  two 
pounds  of '  fine  cut,'  put  it  on  the  Freshman's  table,  and  then, 
all  standing  round  with  long  pipe-stems,  blow  into  it  the 
fire  placed  in  the  tohac^  and  so  fill  the  room  with  smoke, 
then  put  the  Freshman  to  bed,  with  the  pumpkin  for  a  night- 
cap." 

SMOUGE.     At  Hamilton  College,  to  obtain  without  leave. 

SNOB.     In  the  English  universities,  a  townsman,  as  opposed 
to  a  gownsman.  —  Webster, 

They  charged  the  Snobs  against  their  will, 
And  shouted  clear  and  lustily. 

Gradus  ad  Cantab.,  p.  69. 

In  some  American  colleges,  a  townsman  as  opposed  to  a 
student. 

2.  A  mean  or  vulgar  person ;  particularly,  one  who  apes 
gentility.  —  Halliwell. 

Used  both  in  England  and  the  United  States,  "  and  re- 
cently," says  Webster,  "  introduced  into  books  as  a  term  of 
derision." 

SNOBBESS.     In  the  English  universities,  a  female  snob. 

EiFeminacies  like  these,  induced,  no  doubt,  by  the  flattering  ad- 
miration of  the  fair  snobbesses.  —  Alma  Mater,  Vol.  II.  p.  116. 

SNOBBISH.     Belonging  to  or  resembling  a  snob. 

SNOBBY.     Low  ;  vulgar ;  resembling  or  pertaining  to  a  snob. 

SOPH.     In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  an  abbre- 
viation  of  Sophister.  —  Webster. 

On  this  word,  Crabb,  in  his  Technological  Dictionary^ 
says  :  "  A  certain  distinction  or  title  which  undergraduates  in 
the  University  at  Oxford  assume,  previous  to  their  exami- 
nation for  a  degree.  It  took  its  rise  in  the  exercises  which 
students  formerly  had  to  go  through,  but  which  are  now  out 
of  use." 


AND   CUSTOMS.  287 

Three  College  Sophs^  and  three  pert  Templars  came, 
The  same  their  talents,  and  their  tastes  the  same. 

Pope's  Dunciad,  B.  TI.  v.  389,  390. 

2.  In  the  American  colleges,  an  abbreviation  of  Sophomore. 

Sophs  wha  ha'  in  Commons  fed ! 
Sop?is  wha  ha'  in  Commons  bled  ! 
Sophs  wha  ne'er  from  Commons  fled  ! 

Puddings,  steaks,  or  wines  ! 

Rebelliad,  p.  52. 
The  Sophs  did  nothing  all  the  first  fortnight,  but  torment  the 
Fresh,  as  they  call  us.  —  Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  76. 

The  Sophs  were  victorious  at  every  point.  —  Yale  Banger,  Nov. 
10,  1846. 

My  Chum,  a  Soph,  says  he  committed  himself  too  soon.  —  The 
Dartmouth,  Vol.  IV.  p.  118. 

SOPHIST.  A  name  given  to  the  undergraduates  at  Cam- 
bridge, England.  —  CrahFs  Tech.  Diet, 

SOPHISTER.  Greek,  o-o(/)i(rrr;s.  In  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge,  England,  the  title  of  students  who  are  advanced  be- 
yond the  first  year  of  their  residence.  The  entire  course  at 
the  University  consists  of  three  years  and  one  term,  during 
which  the  students  have  the  titles  of  First- Year  Men,  or 
Freshmen ;  Second-Year  Men,  or  Junior  Sophs  or  Soph- 
isters  ;  Third-Year  Men,  or  Senior  Sophs  or  Sophisters ; 
and,  in  the  last  term,  Questionists,  with  reference  to  the 
approaching  examination.  In  the  older  American  colleges, 
the  junior  and  senior  classes  were  originally  called  Junior 
Sophisters  and  Senior  Sophisters.  The  term  is  also  used  at 
Oxford  and  Dublin.  —  Webster. 

And  in  case  any  of  the  Sophisters  fail  in  the  premises  required 
at  their  hands,  &c.  —  Quincyh  Hist.  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  I.  p.  518. 

SOPHOMORE.  One  belonging  to  the  second  of  the  four 
classes  in  an  American  college. 

Professor  Goodrich,  in  his  unabridged  edition  of  Dr.  Web- 
ster's Dictionary,  gives  the  following  interesting  account  of 
this  word.  "  This  word  has  generally  been  considered  as 
an  '  American  barbarism,'  but  was  probably  introduced  into 
our  country,  at  a  very  early  period,  from  the  University  of 


288  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Cambridge,  England.  Among  the  cant  terms  at  that  Uni- 
versily,  as  given  in  the  Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam,  we  find 
Soph'Mor  as  'the  next  distinctive  appellation  to  Freshman.' 
It  is  added,  that  'a  writer  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine 
thinks  mor  an  abbreviation  of  the  Greek  fxcopla^  introduced  at 
a  time  when  the  Encomium  Morice^  the  Praise  of  Folly,  by 
Erasmus,  was  so  generally  used.'  The  ordinary  derivation 
of  the  word,  from  (To(l)6i  and  ^wpoy,  would  seem,  therefore,  to 
be  incorrect.  The  younger  Sophs  at  Cambridge  appear, 
formerly,  to  have  received  the  adjunct  mor  {ficupos)  to  their 
names,  either  as  one  which  they  courted  for  the  reason  men- 
tioned above,  or  as  one  given  them  in  sport,  for  the  supposed 
exhibition  of  inflated  feeling  in  entering  on  their  new  honors. 
The  term,  thus  applied,  seems  to  have  passed,  at  a  very  early 
period,  from  Cambridge  in  England  to  Cambridge  in  Amer- 
ica, as  *  the  next  distinctive  appellation  to  Freshman,'  and 
thus  to  have  been  attached  to  the  second  of  the  four  classes 
in  our  American  colleges  ;  while  it  has  now  almost  ceased 
to  be  known,  even  as  a  cant  word,  at  the  parent  institu- 
tion in  England  whence  it  came.  This  derivation  of  the 
word  is  rendered  more  probable  by  the  fact,  that  the  early 
spelling  was,  to  a  great  extent  at  least,  Sophimore,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  manuscripts  of  President  Stiles  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, and  the  records  of  Harvard  College  down  to  the  period 
of  the  American  Revolution.  This  would  be  perfectly  natu- 
ral if  Soph  or  Sophister  was  considered  as  the  basis  of  the 
word,  but  can  hardly  be  explained  if  the  ordinary  derivation 
had  then  been  regarded  as  the  true  one." 

Some  further  remarks  on  this  word  may  be  found  in  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  above  referred  to.  Vol.  LXV.  1795, 
p.  818. 
SOPHOMORE  COMMENCEMENT.  At  Princeton  College, 
it  has  long  been  the  custom  for  the  Sophomore  Class,  near 
the  time  of  the  Commencement  at  the  close  of  the  Senior 
year,  to  hold  a  Commencement  in  imitation  of  it,  at  which 
burlesque  and  other  exercises,  appropriate  to  the  occasion, 
are  performed.  The  speakers  chosen  are  a  Salutatorian,  a 
Poet,  an  Historian,  who  reads  an  account  of  the  doings  of 


AND    CUSTOMS.  28fl 

the  Class  up  to  that  period,  a  Valedictorian,  &c.,  &c.  A 
band  of  music  is  always  in  attendance.  After  the  addresses, 
the  Class  partake  of  a  supper,  which  is  usually  prolonged  to 
a  very  late  hour.  In  imitation  of  the  Sophomore  Commence- 
ment, Burlesque  Bills ^  as  they  are  called,  are  prepared  and 
published  by  the  Juniors,  in  which,  in  a  long  and  formal  pro- 
gramme, such  subjects  and  speeches  are  attributed  to  the 
members  of  the  Sophomore  Class  as  are  calculated  to  expose 
their  weak  points. 

SOPHOMOmC,        )      „       .  . 

SOPHOMORICAL   i      rertammg  to  or  like  a  Sophomore. 

Better  to  face  the  prowling  panther's  path, 
Than  meet  the  storm  of  Sophomoric  wrath. 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  IV.  p.  22. 

We  trust  he  will  add  by  his  example  no  significancy  to  that  pithy 
word,  "  Sophomoric.''^  —  Sketches  of  Williams  Coll.,  p.  63. 

Another  meaning,  derived  it  would  appear  from  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  Sophomore,  yet  not  very  creditable  to  him, 
is  homhastic^  inflated  in  style  or  manner.  —  /.  C.  Calhoun. 

SPLURGE.  In  many  colleges,  when  one  is  either  dashy,  or 
dressed  more  than  ordinarily,  he  is  said  to  cut  a  splurge,  A 
showy  recitation  is  often  called  by  the  same  name.  In  his 
Dictionary  of  Americanisms,  Mr.  Bartlett  defines  it,  "  a  great 
effort ;  a  demonstration,"  which  is  the  signification  in  which 
this  word  is  generally  used. 

SPOON.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  the  last 
of  each  class  of  the  honors  is  humorously  denominated  The 
Spoon.  Thus,  the  last  Wrangler  is  called  the  Golden  Spoon  ; 
the  last  Senior  Optime,  the  Silver  Spoon  ;  and  the  last  Jun- 
ior Optime,  the  Wooden  Spoon.  The  Wooden  Spoon, 
however,  is,  par  excellence^  "  The  Spoon."  —  Gradus  ad 
Cantab. 
See  Wooden  Spoon. 

SPOON,        J      A  man   who  has  been  drinking  till  he  be- 
SPOONY,     V  comes   disgusting   by   his   very    ridiculous  be. 
SPOONEY.  )  havior,  is  said  to  be  spoony  drunk;  and  hence 
25 


290  COLLEGE  WORDS 

it   is   usual  to  call  a  very  prating,  shallow  fellow,  a  rank 
spoon.  —  Grose. 

Mr.  Bartlett,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Americanisms,  says :  — 
"  We  use  the  word  only  in  the  latter  sense.  The  Hon.  Mr. 
Preston,  in  his  remarks  on  the  Mexican  war,  thus  quotes 
from  Tom  Crib's  remonstrance  against  the  meanness  of  a 
transaction,  similar  to  our  cries  for  more  vigorous  blows  on 
Mexico  when  she  is  prostrate  : 

**  Look  down  upon  Ben,  —  see  him,  dunghill  all  o'er, 
Insult  the  fallen  foe  that  can  harm  him  no  more. 
Out,  cowardly  spooney  I    Again  and  again, 
By  the  fist  of  my  father,  I  blush  for  thee,  Ben. 
"  Ay,  you  will  see  all  the  spooneys  that  ran,  like  so  many  dtmghill 
champions,  from  54  40,  stand  by  the  President  for  the  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  war  upon  the  body  of  a  prostrate  foe.  —  N.  Y. 
Tribune,  lS4t7.'' 

Now  that  year  it  so  happened  that  the  spoon  was  no  spooney.  — 
Alma  Mater,  Vol.  I.  p.  218. 

Not  a  few  of  this  party  were  deluded  into  a  belief,  that  all 
studious  and  quiet  men  were  slow,  all  men  of  proper  self-respect 
exclusives,  and  all  men  of  courtesy  and  good-breeding  spoonies.  — 
Collegian^ s  Guide,  p.  118. 

Suppose  that  rustication  was  the  fate  of  a  few  others  of  our  ac- 
quaintance, whom  you  cannot  call  slow,  or  spoonies  either,  would 
it  be  deemed  no  disgrace  by  them?  —  Ibid.,  p.  196. 
When  spoonys  on  two  knees  implore  the  aid  of  sorcery, 
To  suit  their  wicked  purposes  they  quickly  put  the  laws  awry. 

Rejected  Addresses,  Am.  ed.,  p.  154. 
They  belong  to  the  class  of  elderly  "  spoons,"*^  with  some  few  ex- 
ceptions, and  are  nettled  that  the  world  should  not  go  at  their  rate 
of  progression.  —  Boston  Daily  Times,  May  8,  1851. 
SPOONY.     )      Like  a  spoon ;   possessing  the  qualities  of  a 
SPOONEY.  \  silly  or  stupid  fellow. 

I  shall  escape  from  this  beautiful  critter,  for  I  'm  gettin'  spooney, 
and  shall  talk  silly  presently.  —  Sam  Slick. 

Both  the  adjective  and  the  noun  spooney  are  in  constant 
and  frequent  use  at  some  of  the  American  colleges,  and  are 
generally  applied  to  one  who  is  disliked  either  for  his  bad 
qualities  or  for  his  ill -breeding,  usually  accompanied  with 
the  idea  of  weakness. 


AND    CUSTOMS.  291 

He  sprees,  is  caught,  rusticates,  returns  next  year,  mingles  with 
feminines,  and  is  consequently  degraded  into  the  spooney  Junior.  — 
Yale  Lit.  Mag,,  Vol.  XV.  p.  208. 

A  **  bowl  "  was  the  happy  conveyance.  Perhaps  this  was  chosen 
because  the  voyagers  were  spooney.  —  Yale  Banger,  Nov.,  1849. 

SPOOPS.      )      At  Harvard  College,  a  weak,  silly  fellow,  or 
SPOOPSY.  )  one  who  is  disliked  on  account  of  his  foolish  ac- 
tions, is  called  a  spoops^  or  spdopsy.    The  meaning  is  nearly 
the  same  as  that  of  spoony. 

SPOOPSY.  Foolish  ;  silly.  Applied  either  to  a  person  or 
thing. 

SPORT.  To  exhibit  or  bring  out  in  public  ;  as,  to  sport  a 
new  equipage.  —  Grose. 

This  word  was  in  great  vogue  in  England  in  the  year 
1783  and  1784;  but  is  now  sacred  to  men  of  fashion^  both 
in  England  and  America. 

With  regard  to  the  word  sport,  they  [the  Cantabrigians]  sported 
knowing,  and  they  sported  ignorant,  —  they  sported  an  ^Egrotat, 
and  they  sported  a  new  coat,  —  they  sported  an  Exeat,  they  sported 
a  Dormiat,"  &c.  —  Gent.  Mag.,  1794,  p.  1085. 

To  sport  oak  or  a  door.     See  Oak. 

SPREAD.  A  feast  of  a  more  humble  description  than  a 
Gaudy.     Used  at  Cambridge,  England. 

This  puts  him  in  high  spirits  again ,  and  he  gives  a  large  spread, 
and  gets  drunk  on  the  strength  of  it.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab. 

SPRUNG.  The  positive,  of  which  tight  is  the  comparative, 
and  drunk  the  superlative. 

"  One  swallow  makes  not  spring,"  the  poet  sung, 
But  many  swallows  make  the  student  sprung. 

MS.  Poem, 
See  Tight. 

SPY.  In  some  of  the  American  colleges,  it  is  a  prevailing 
opinion  among  the  students,  that  certain  members  of  the  dif- 
ferent classes  are  encouraged  by  the  Faculty  to  report  what 
they  have  seen  or  ascertained  in  the  conduct  of  their  class- 
mates, contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  college.  jMany  are  stigma- 
tized as  spies  very  unjustly,  and  seldom  with  any  sufficient 
reason. 


292  COLLEGE   WORDS 

SQUIRT.  At  Harvard  College,  a  showy  recitation  is  denom- 
inated a  squirt ;  the  ease  and  quickness  with  which  the  words 
flow  from  the  mouth  being  analogous  to  the  ease  and  quick- 
ness which  attend  the  sudden  ejection  of  a  stream  of  water 
from  a  pipe.  Such  a  recitation  being  generally  perfect,  the 
word  squirt  is  very  often  used  to  convey  that  idea.  Perhaps 
there  is  not,  in  the  whole  vocabulary  of  college  cant  terms, 
one  more  expressive  than  this,  or  that  so  easily  conveys  its 
meaning  merely  by  its  sound.     It  is  mostly  used  colloquially. 

2.  A  foppish  young  fellow ;  a  whipper-snapper.  —  Bart- 
lett. 

If  they  won't  keep  company  with  squirts  and  dandies,  who  's  go- 
ing to  make  a  monkey  of  himself?  —  Maj.  Joneses  Courtship,  p. 
160. 

SQUIRT.     To  make  a  showy  recitation. 

He  'd  rather  slump  than  squirt. 

Poem  before  Y".  ^.,  p.  9. 
Webster  has  this  word  with  the  meaning,  "  to  throw  out 
words ;  to  let  fly,"  and  marks  it  as  out  of  use. 

SQUIRTINESS.     The  quality  of  being  showy. 

SQUIRTISH.     Showy;  dandified. 

It 's  my  opinion  that  these  slicked  up  squirtish  kind  a  fellars  ain't 
particular  hard  baked,  and  they  always  goes  in  for  aristocracy  no- 
tions. —  Robb,  Squatter  Life,  p.  73. 

SQUIRTY.     Showy  ;  fond  of  display  ;  gaudy. 

Applied  to  an  oration  which  is  full  of  bombast  and  gran- 
diloquence ;  to  a  foppish  fellow ;  to  an  apartment  gayly 
adorned,  &c. 

And  should  they  '*  scrape  "  in  prayers,  because  they  are  long 
And  rather  **  squirty  "  at  times. 

Childe  Harvard,  p.  58. 

STANDING.     Academical  age,  or  rank. 

Of  what  standing  are  you  ?  I  am  a  Senior  Soph.  —  Gradus  ad 
Cantab. 

Her  mother  told  me  all  about  your  love, 

And  asked  me  of  your  prospects  and  your  standing. 

Collegian,  1830,  p.  267. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  293 

To  stand  for  an  honor ;  i.  e.  to  offer  one's  self  as  a  can- 
didate for  an  honor. 

STx\R.  In  triennial  catalogues  a  star  designates  those  who 
have  died.  This  sign  was  first  used  with  this  signification 
by  Mather,  in  his  Magnalia,  in  a  list  prepared  by  him  of  the 
graduates  of  Harvard  College,  with  a  fanciful  allusion,  it  is 
supposed,  to  the  abode  of  those  thus  marked. 

Our  tale  shall  be  told  by  a  silent  star, 
On  the  page  of  some  future  Triennial. 

Poem  before  Class  of  I8i9f  Harv,  Coll.,  p.  4. 

STAR.  To  mark  a  star  opposite  the  name  of  a  person,  signi- 
fying that  he  is  dead. 

Six  of  the  sixteen  Presidents  of  our  University  have  been  in- 
augurated in  this  place  ;  and  the  oldest  living  graduate,  the  Hon. 
Paine  Wingate  of  Stratham,  New  Hampshire,  who  stands  on  the 
catalogue  a  lonely  survivor  amidst  the  starred  names  of  the  dead, 
took,  his  degree  within  these  walls.  — A  Sermon  on  leaving  the  old 
Meeting-house  in  Cambridge,  by  Rev.  William  Newell,  Dec.  1, 
1833,  p.  22. 

S.  T.  B.     Sanctce  Theologia  Baccalaureus,  Bachelor  in  The- 
ology. 
See  B.  D: 

STEWARD.  In  colleges,  an  officer  who  provides  food  for  the 
students,  and  superintends  the  kitchen.  —  Webster, 

In  American  colleges,  the  labors  of  the  steward  are  at 
present  more  extended,  and  not  so  servile,  as  set  forth  in  the 
above  definition.  To  him  is  usually  assigned  the  duty  of 
making  out  the  term-bills  and  receiving  the  money  thereon  ; 
of  superintending  the  college  edifices  with  respect  to  repairs, 
&c. ;  of  engaging  proper  servants  in  the  employ  of  the  col- 
lege ;  and  of  performing  such  other  services  as  are  declared 
by  the  faculty  of  the  college  to  be  within  his  province. 

S.  T.  P.     SanctcB    Theologies  Doctor.     Doctor  in  Theology. 
Also  called  Professor  of  Theology. 
See  D.  D. 

STUCK.    In  college  phrase,  to  get  stuck  is  to  be  unable  to  pro- 
25* 


294  COLLEGE   WORDS 

ceed,  either  in  a  recitation,  declamation,  or  any  other  exer- 
cise. An  instructor  is  said  to  stick  a  student,  when  he  asks 
a  question  which  the  student  is  unable  to  answer. 

STUDENT.  A  person  engaged  in  study  ;  one  who  is  devoted 
to  learning,  either  in  a  seminary  or  in  private  ;  a  scholar ; 
as,  the  students  of  an  academy,  of  a  college  or  university  ;  a 
medical  student ;  a  law  student, 

2.  A  man  devoted  to  books  ;  a  bookish  man ;  as,  a  hard 
student ;  a  close  student,  —  Welster. 

STUDY.  A  building  or  an  apartment  devoted  to  study  or  to 
literary  employment.  —  Webster, 

In  some  of  the  older  American  colleges,  it  was  formerly 
the  custom  to  partition  off,  in  each  chamber,  two  small  rooms, 
where  the  occupants,  who  were  always  two  in  number, 
could  carry  on  their  literary  pursuits.  These  rooms  were 
called,  from  this  circumstance,  studies.  Speaking  of  the  first 
college  edifice  which  was  erected  at  New  Haven,  Mr.  Clap, 
in  his  History  of  Yale  College,  says :  "  It  made  a  handsome 
appearance,  and  contained  near  fifty  studies  in  convenient 
chambers  " ;  and  again  he  speaks  of  Connecticut  Hall  as 
containing  thirty-two  chambers,  and  sixty-four  studies.  In 
the  oldest  buildings,  some  of  these  studies  remain  at  the 
present  day. 

The  study  rents,  until  December  last,  were  discontinued  with 
Mr.  Dunster.  —  Quincy^s  Hist.  Harv,  Univ.,  Vol.  I.  p.  463. 

Every  Graduate  and  Undergraduate  shall  find  his  proportion  of 
furniture,  &c.,  during  the  whole  time  of  his  having  a  5iMfi(y  assigned 
him.  — Laws  Harv.  Coll.,  1798,  p.  35. 

To  him  that  occupies  my  study, 

1  give,  &c.  —  Will  of  Charles  Prentiss, 

STUMP.  At  Princeton  College,  to  fail  in  reciting;  to  say 
"  not  prepared,"  when  called  on  to  recite.  A  stump^  a  bad 
recitation  ;  used  in  the  phrase,  "  to  make  a  stump.'*'' 

SUB-FRESH.  A  person  previous  to  entering  the  Freshman 
class  is  called  a  sub-fresh,  or  one  below  a  Freshman. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  295 

Praying  his  guardian  powers 
To  assist  a  poor  ^^ Sub-Fresh  "  at  the  dread  examination. 

Poem  before  the  ladma  Soc.  of  Harv,  CoIL,  p.  14,  1850. 
Our  ^^Sub-Fresh^^  has  that  feeling. 

Ibid.,  p.  16. 
Sometimes  written  Suh, 

Information  wanted  of  the  **  Sub  "  who  did  n't  think  it  an  honor 
to  be  electioneered.  —  N.  B.,  Yale  ColLy  June  14,  1851. 
See  Pene. 

SUB-SIZAR;     In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  for- 
merly an  order  of  students  lower  than  the  sizars. 
Masters  of  all  sorts,  and  all  ages, 
Keepers,  sudcizers,  lackeys,  pages. 

Poems  of  Bp.  Corbet,  p.  22. 
There  he  sits  and  sees 
How  lackeys  and  subsizers  press 
And  scramble  for  degrees. 

Ibid.,  p.  38. 
See  under  Sizar. 

SUPPLICAT.  Latin ;  literally,  he  supplicates.  In  the  Eng- 
lish universities,  a  petition ;  particularly  a  written  applica- 
tion with  a  certificate  that  the  requisite  conditions  have  been 
complied  with.  —  Webster. 

A  Supplicate  says  the  Gradus  ad  Cantabrigiam,  is  "  an 
entreaty  to  be  admitted  to  the  degree  of  A.  B. ;  containing 
a  certificate  that  the  Questionist  has  kept  his  full  number  of 
terms,  or  explaining  any  deficiency.  This  document  is  pre- 
sented to  the  caput  by  the  father  of  his  college." 

SUSPEND.  In  colleges,  to  separate  a  student  from  his  class, 
and  place  him  under  private  instruction. 

And  those  whose  crimes  are  very  great, 

Let  us  suspend  or  rusticate.  —  Rebelliad,  p.  24. 

SUSPENSION.  In  universities  and  colleges,  the  punishment 
of  a  student  for  some  offence,  usually  negligence,  by  separ- 
ating him  from  his  class,  and  compelling  him  to  pursue 
those  branches  of  study  in  which  he  is  deficient  under  pri- 
vate instruction,  provided  for  the  purpose. 

SUSPENSION-PAPER.  The  paper  in  which  the  act  of  sus- 
pension from  college  is  declared. 


296  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Come,  take  these  three  suspension-papers  ; 
They  '11  teach  you  how  to  cut  such  capers. 

RebeUiad,  p.  32. 

SUSPENSION  TO  THE  ROOM.  In  Princeton  College, 
one  of  the  punishments  for  certain  offences  subjects  a  stu- 
dent to  confinement  to  his  chamber  and  exclusion  from  his 
class,  and  requires  him  to  recite  to  a  teacher  privately  for  a 
certain  time.  This  is  technically  called  suspension  to  the 
room. 

SWEEP,        )      The  name  given  at  Yale  and  other  colleges 
SWEEPER.  \  to  the  person  whose  occupation  is  to  sweep  the 
students'  rooms,  make  their  beds,  &c. 

Then  how  welcome  the  entrance  of  the  sweep^  and  how  cutely  we 
fling  jokes  at  each  other  through  the  dust  I  —  Yale  Lit.  Mag. ,  Vol. 
XIV.  p.  223.  \ 

Knocking  down  the  sweep,  in  clearing  the  stairs,  we  described  a 
circle  to  our  room. —  Tlte  Yale  Banger,  Nov.  10,  1846. 
A  Freshman  by  the  faithful  sweep 
Was  found  half  buried  in  soft  sleep. 

Ibid.,  Nov.  10,  1846. 
In  the  Yale  Literary  Magazine,  Vol.  III.  p.  144,  is  "  A 
tribute  to  certain  Members  of  the  Faculty,  whose  names  are 
omitted  in  the  Catalogue,"  in  which  appropriate  praise  is 
awarded  to  these  useful  servants. 

The  Steward  ....  engages  sweepers  for  the  College.  —  Laws 
Harv.  Coll.,  1816,  p.  48. 

SWELL  BLOCK.  In  the  University  of  Virginia,  a  soubriquet 
applied  to  dandies  and  vain  pretenders. 

SWING.  At  several  American  colleges,  the  word  swing  is 
used  for  coming  out  with  a  secret  society  badge  ;  1st,  of  the 
society,  to  swing  out  the  new  men  ;  and,  2d,  of  the  men, 
intransitively,  to  swings  i.  e.  to  appear  with  the  badge  of  a 
secret  society.  Generally,  ^o  swing  out  signifies  to  appear 
in  something  new. 

SYNDIC.  Latin,  syndicus ;  Greek,  avvdiKos ;  (tvv,  with,  and 
bUr},  justice. 

An  officer  of  government,  invested  with  different  powers 


AND   CUSTOMS.  297 

in  different  countries.  Almost  all  the  connpanies  in  Paris, 
the  university,  &c.,  have  their  syndics.  The  University  of 
Cannbridge  has  its  syndics^  v^ho  are  chosen  from  the  Senate 
to  transact  special  business,  as  the  regulation  of  fees, 
forming  of  laws,  inspecting  the  library,  buildings,  printing, 
&c.  —  Wtlster.     Cam.  Col.  ^-ss:=Ef~===^::>^ 


Library. 


T.  ^'i^^^or 


TADS.  At  Centre  College,  Ky.,  there  is  "  a  society,"  says 
a  correspondent,  "  composed  of  the  very  best  fellows  of  the 
I  College,  calling  themselves  Tads^  who  are  generally  associ- 
ated together,  for  the  object  of  electing,  by  the  additional 
votes  of  their  members,  any  of  their  friends  who  are  brought 
forward  as  candidates  for  any  honor  or  appointment  in  the 
literary  societies  to  which  they  belong." 

TAKE  UP  ONE'S  CONNECTIONS.  In  students'  phrase, 
to  leave  college.     Used  in  American  institutions. 

TARDY.  In  colleges,  late  in  attendance  on  a  public  exercise. 
Welster. 

TAVERN.  At  Harvard  College,  the  rooms  No.  24,  Massa- 
chusetts Hall,  and  No.  8,  Hollis  Hall,  were  occupied  from 
the  year  1789  to  1793  by  Mr.  Charles  Angier.  His  table 
was  always  supplied  with  wine,  brandy,  crackers,  etc.,  of 
which  his  friends  were  at  liberty  to  partake  at  any  time. 
From  this  circumstance  his  rooms  were  called  the  Tavern 
for  nearly  twenty  years  after  his  graduation. 

In  connection  with  this  incident,  it  may  not  be  uninterest- 
ing to  state  that  the  cellars  of  the  two  buildings  above  men- 
tioned were  divided  each  into  thirty-two  compartments,  cor- 
responding with  the  number  of  rooms.  In  these  the  students 
and  tutors  stored  their  liquors,  sometimes  in  no  inconsider- 
able quantities.      Frequent   entries   are   met   with   in   the 


298  COLLEGE  WORDS 

records  of  the  Faculty,  in  which  the  students  are  charged 
with  pilfering  wine,  brandy,  or  eatables  from  the  tutors'  bins, 

TAXOR.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.  an  officer 
appointed  to  regulate  the  assize  of  bread,  the  true  guage  of 
weights,  etc.  —  Cam,  Cal. 

TEAR.  At  Princeton  College,  a  perfect  tear  is  a  very  extra 
recitation,  superior  to  a  rowL 

TEMPLE.     At  Bowdoin  College,  a  privy  is  thus  designated. 

TEN-STRIKE.  At  Hamilton,  a  perfect  recitation,  ten  being 
the  mark  given  for  a  perfect  recitation. 

TEN-YEAR  MEN.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng., 
these  are  allowed  to  take  the  degree  of  Bachelor  in  Divinity 
without  having  been  B.  A.  or  M.  A.,  by  the  statute  of  9th 
Queen  Elizabeth,  which  permits  persons,  who  are  admitted 
at  any  college  when  twenty-four  years  of  age  and  upwards, 
to  take  the  degree  of  B.  D.  after  their  names  have  remained 
on  the  hoards  ten  years  or  more.  After  the  first  eight 
years,  they  must  reside  in  the  University  the  greater  part  of 
three  several  terms,  and  perform  the  exercises  which  are 
required  by  the  statutes.  —  Cam.  Cal, 

TERM.  In  universities  and  colleges,  the  time  during  which 
instruction  is  regularly  given  to  students,  who  are  obliged 
by  the  statutes  and  laws  of  the  institution  to  attend  to  the 
recitations,  lectures,  and  other  exercises.  —  Webster, 

TERR^  FILIUS.     Latin  ;  son  of  earth. 

Formerly,  one  appointed  to  write  a  satirical  Latin  poem 
at  the  public  acts  in  the  University  of  Oxford  ;  not  unlike 
the  prevaricator  at  Cambridge,  Eng.  —  Webster, 

Full  accounts  of  the  compositions  written  on  these  occasions 
may  be  found  in  a  work  in  two  volumes,  entitled  "  Terrae- 
Filius  ;  or  the  Secret  History  of  the  University  of  Oxford," 
printed  in  the  year  1726. 

TESTAMUR.  Latin  ;  literally,  we  testify.  In  the  English 
universities,  a  certificate  of  proficiency,  without  which  a 
person  is  not  able  to  take  his  degree.  So  called  from  the 
first  word  in  the  formula. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  299 

There  is  not  one  out  of  twenty  of  my  pupils  who  can  look  for- 
ward with  unmixed  pleasure  to  a  testamur.  —  Collegian's  Guide, 
p.  254. 

Every  testamur  must  be  signed  by  three  out  of  the  four  exam- 
iners, at  least.  —  Ibid.,  p.  282. 

THEATRE.  At  Oxford,  a  building  in  which  are  held  the 
annual  commemoration  of  benefactors,  the  recitation  of 
prize  compositions,  and  the  occasional  ceremony  of  confer- 
ring degrees  on  distinguished  personages.  —  Oxford  Guide, 

THEME.     A  short  dissertation  composed  by  a  student. 

It  is  the  practice  at  Cambridge  [Mass.]  for  the  Professor  of  Rhet- 
oric and  the  English  language,  commencing  in  the  first  or  second 
quarter  of  the  student's  Sophomore  year,  to  give  the  class  a  text ; 
generally  some  brief  moral  quotation  from  some  of  the  ancient  or 
modern  poets,  from  which  the  students  write  a  short  essay,  usually 
denominated  a  theme.  —  Works  of  R.  T.  Paine,  p.  xxi. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  enter  into  competition  with  students  who 
have  been  practising  the  sublime  art  of  theme  and  forensic  writing 
for  two  years.  — •  Harvardiana,  Vol,  III.  p.  316. 
But  on  the  sleepy  day  of  them£s, 
May  doze  away  a  dozen  reams. 

Ibid.,^.  283. 
Nimrod  holds  his  **  first  theme  "  in  one  hand  and  is  leaning  his 
head  on  the  other.  —  Ibid-,  p.  253. 

THEME-BEARER.  At  Harvard  College,  until  within  a 
few  years,  a  student  was  chosen  once  in  a  term  by  his  class- 
mates to  perform  the  duties  of  theme-bearer.  He  received 
the  subjects  for  themes  and  forensics  from  the  Professors  of 
Rhetoric  and  of  Moral  Philosophy,  and  posted  them  up  in 
convenient  places,  usually  in  the  entries  of  the  buildings  ' 
and  on  the  bulletin-boards.  He  also  distributed  the  cor- 
rected themes,  at  first  giving  them  to  the  students  after 
evening  prayers,  and  when  this  had  been  forbidden  by  the 
President,  carrying  them  to  their  rooms.  For  these  services 
he  received  seventy-five  cents  per  term  from  each  member 
of  the  class. 

THESIS.     A  position  or  proposition  which  a  person  advances 
and  offers  to  maintain,  or  which  is  actually  maintained   by 


300  COLLEGE   WORDS 

argument ;  a  theme ;  a  subject ;  particularly,  a  subject  or 
proposition  for  a  school  or  university  exercise,  or  the  ex- 
ercise itself.  —  Webster. 

In  the  older  American  colleges,  the  theses  held  a  promi- 
nent place  in  the  exercises  of  Commencement.  At  Harvard 
College  the  earliest  theses  extant  bear  the  date  of  the  year 
1687.  They  were  Theses  Technological,  Logical,  Gram- 
matical, Rhetorical,  Mathematical,  and  Physical.  The  last 
theses  were  presented  in  the  year  1820.  The  earliest  theses 
extant  belonging  to  Yale  College  are  of  1714,  and  the  last 
were  printed  in  1797. 
THESES-COLLECTOR.  One  who  collects  or  prepares 
theses.  The  following  extract  from  the  laws  of  Harvard 
College  will  explain  further  what  is  meant  by  this  term. 
"The  President,  Professors,  and  Tutors,  annually,  some  time 
in  the  third  term,  shall  select  from  the  Junior  Class  a  num- 
ber of  Theses- Collectors,  to  prepare  Theses  for  the  next 
year ;  from  which  selection,  they  shall  appoint  so  many 
divisions  as  shall  be  equal  to  the  number  of  branches  they 
may  assign.  And  each  one  shall,  in  the  particular  branch 
assigned  him,  collect  so  many  theses  as  the  government 
may  judge  expedient;  and  all  the  theses,  thus  collected, 
shall  be  delivered  to  the  President,  by  the  Saturday  immedi- 
ately succeeding  the  end  of  the  Spring  vacation,  in  the  Senior 
year,  at  farthest,  from  which  the  President,  Professors,  and 
Tutors  shall  select  such  as  they  shall  judge  proper  to  be 
published.  But  if  the  theses  delivered  to  the  President,  in 
any  particular  branch,  should  not  afford  a  sufficient  number 
suitable  for  publication,  a  farther  number  shall  be  required. 
The  name  of  the  student  who  collected  any  set  or  number 
of  theses  shall  be  annexed  to  the  theses  collected  by  him, 
in  every  publication.  Should  any  one  neglect  to  collect  the 
theses  required  of  him,  he  shall  be  liable  to  lose  his  degree." 
1814,  p.  35. 

The  Theses-Collectors  were  formerly  chosen  by  the  class, 
as  the  following  extract  from  a  MS.  Journal  will  show. 

"  March  27th,  1792.   My  Class  assembled  in  the  chapel  to 
choose  theses-collectors,  a  valedictory  orator,  and  poet.    Jack- 


AND   CUSTOMS.  301 

son  was  chosen  to  deliver  the  Latin  oration,  and  Cutler  to 
deliver  the  poem.  Ellis  was  almost  unanimously  chosen 
a  collector  of  the  grammatical  theses.  Prince  was  chosen 
metaphysical  theses  collector,  with  considerable  opposition. 
Lowell  was  chosen  mathematical  theses  collector,  though  not 
unanimously.  Chamberlain  was  chosen  physical  theses  col- 
lector." 

THIRDING.  In  England,  "a  custom  practised  at  the  uni- 
versities, where  two  thirds  of  the  original  price  is  allowed 
by  upholsterers  to  the  students  for  household  goods  returned 
them  within  the  year."  —  Grose^s  Did. 

THIRD-YEAR  MEN.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng- 
land, the  title  of  Third-Year  Men,  or  Senior  Sophs  orSophis- 
ters,  is  given  to  students  during  the  third  year  of  their  resi- 
dence at  the  University. 

THUNDERING  BOLUS.     See  Intonitans  Bolus. 

TICK.  A  recitation  made  by  one  who  does  not  know  of  what 
he  is  talking. 

Ticks ^  screws,  and  deads  were  all  put  under  contribution. — A 
Tour  through  College,  p.  25.     Boston,  1832. 

TICKER.     One  who  recites  without  knowing  what  he  is  talk- 
ing about ;  one  entirely  independent  of  any  book-knowledge. 
If  any  *'  Ticker  "  dare  to  look 
A  stealthy  moment  on  his  book. 

Harvardianttf  Vol.  III.  p.  123, 

TICKING.  The  act  of  reciting  without  knowing  any  thing 
about  the  lesson. 

And  what  with  ticking,  screwing,  and  deading,  am  candidate 
for  a  piece  of  parchment  to-morrow.  — Harv.  Reg.,  p.  194. 

TIGHT.  A  common  slang  term  among  students;  the  com- 
parative, of  which  drunk  is  the  superlative. 

Some  twenty  of  as  jolly  chaps  as  e'er  got  jolly  tight. 

Poem  before  Y.  H.,  1849. 
Hast  spent  the  livelong  night 
In  smoking  Esculapios,  —  in  getting  jolly  tight  1 

Poem  before  ladma,  1850. 
26 


302  COLLEGE    WORDS 

While  fathers  are  bursting  with  rage  and  spite, 
And  old  ladies  vow  that  the  students  are  tight. 

Yale  Gallinippery  Nov.,  1848. 

Speaking  of  the  word  "  drunk,"  the  Burlington  Sentinel 
remarks  :  —  "  The  last  synonyme  that  we  have  observed  is 
'  iight^'*  a  term,  it  strikes  us,  rather  inappropriate,  since  a 
'  tight'  man,  in  the  cant  use  of  the  word,  is  almost  always  a 
'  loose  character.'  We  give  a  list  of  a  few  of  the  various 
words  and  phrases  which  have  been  in  use,  at  one  time  or 
another,  to  signify  some  stage  of  inebriation  :  Over  the  bay, 
half  seas  over,  hot,  high,  corned,  cut,  cocked,  shaved,  dis- 
guised, jammed,  damaged,  sleepy,  tired,  discouraged,  snuffy, 
whipped,  how  come  ye  so,  breezy,  smoked,  top  heavy,  fud- 
dled, groggy,  tipsy,  smashed,  swipy,  slewed,  cronk,  salted 
down,  how  fare  ye,  on  the  lee  lurch,  all  sails  set,  three 
sheets  in  the  wind,  well  under  w^ay,  battered,  blowing,  snub- 
bed, sawed,  boozy,  bruised,  screwed,  soaked,  comfortable, 
stimulated,  jug-steamed,  tangle-legged,  fogmatic,  blue-eyed, 
a  passenger  in  the  Cape  Ann  stage,  striped,  faint,  shot  in 
the  neck,  bamboozled,  weak-jointed,  got  a  brick  in  his  hat, 
got  a  turkey  on  his  back." 

See  Sprung. 

2.  At  Williams  College,  this  word  is  sometimes  used  as  an 
exclamation  ;  e.  g.  "  O,  tight  !  " 

TIGHT  FIT.  At  the  University  of  Vermont,  a  good  joke  is 
denominated  by  the  students  a  tight  Jit^  and  the  jokee  is  said 
to  be  "  hard  up." 

TILE.  A  hat.  Evidently  suggested  by  the  meaning  of  the 
word,  a  covering  for  the  roof  of  buildings. 

Then,  taking  it  from  off  his  head,  began  to  brush  his  "  ^zVe." 

Poem  before  the  ladma,  1850. 

TOADY.  A  fawning,  obsequious  parasite  ;  a  toad-eater.  In 
college  cant,  one  who  seeks  or  gains  favor  with  an  instructor 
or  popularity  with  his  classmates  by  mean  and  sycophantic 
actions. 

TOADY.     To  flatter  any  one  for  gain.  —  Halliwell 


AND   CUSTOMS. 

TRANSMITTENDUM,  ph  Transmittenda  or  Transmit- 
TENDUMs.  Any  thing  transnnitted,  or  handed  down  from  one 
to  another. 

Students,  on  withdrawing  from  college,  often  leave  in  the 
room  which  they  last  occupied,  pictures,  looking-glasses, 
chairs,  &c.,  there  to  remain,  and  to  be  handed  down  to  the 
latest  posterity.  Articles  thus  left  are  called  iransmitlenda. 
The  Great  Mathematical  Slate  was  a  transmittendum  to  the  best 
mathematical  scholar  in  each  class.  —  MS.  note  in  Cat,  Med,  Fac, 
Soc,  1833,  p.  16. 

TRIENNIAL,  or  Triennial  Catalogue.  In  American  col- 
leges, a  catalogue  issued  once  in  three  years.  This  cata- 
logue contains  the  names  of  the  officers  and  students,  ar- 
ranged according  to  the  years  in  which  they  were  connected 
with  the  college,  an  account  of  the  high  public  offices  which 
they  have  filled,  degrees  which  they  have  received,  time  of 
death,  &c. 

Our  tale  shall  be  told  by  a  silent  star, 
On  the  page  of  some  future  Triennial. 

Class  Poem,  Harv.  Coll.,  1849,  p.  4. 

TRIMESTER.  Latin  trimestris ;  tres^  three,  and  mensis^ 
month.  In  the  German  universities,  a  term  or  period  of 
three  months.  —  Webster. 

TRIPOS,  pi.  Triposes.     A  tripos  paper. 

2.  One  who  prepares  a  tripos  paper.  —  Webster. 

TRIPOS  PAPER.  At  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng- 
land, a  printed  list  of  the  successful  candidates  for  mathe- 
matical honors,  accompanied  by  a  piece  in  Latin  verse. 
There  are  two  of  these,  designed  to  commemorate  the  two 
Tripos  days.  The  first  contains  the  names  of  the  wranglers 
and  senior  optimes,  and  the  second  the  names  of  the  junior 
optimes.  The  word  tripos  is  supposed  to  refer  to  the  three- 
legged  stool  formerly  used  at  the  examinations  for  these 
honors,  though  some  derive  it  from  the  three  brackets  for- 
merly printed  on  the  back  of  the  paper. 

Classical  tripos  examination  ;  the  final  university  exami- 
nation for  classical  honors,  optional  to  all  who  have   taken 


304  COLLEGE    WORDS 

the  mathematical  honors.  —  C.  A,  Bristed^  in    Wehster^s 
Diet. 

TRUSTEE.  A  person  to  whom  property  is  legally  com- 
mitted in  trusty  to  be  applied  either  for  the  benefit  of  speci- 
fied individuals,  or  for  public  uses.  —  Webster, 

In  many  American  colleges  the  general  government  is 
vested  in  a  board  of  trustees^  appointed  differently  in  differ- 
ent colleges. 

See  Corporation  and  Overseer. 

TUFT-HUNTER.  A  cant  term,  in  the  English  universities, 
for  a  hanger-on  to  noblemen  and  persons  of  quality.  So 
called  from  the  tuft  in  the  cap  of  the  latter.  —  HalliwelL 

TUITION.  In  universities,  colleges,  schools,  &c.,  the  money 
paid  for  instruction.  In  American  colleges,  the  tuition  is 
from  thirty  to  seventy  dollars  a  year. 

TUTE.     Abbreviation  for  Tutor. 

TUTOR.     Latin  ;  from  tueor,  to  defend  ;  French,  tuteur. 

In  Engli.sh  universities  and  colleges,  an  officer  or  member 
of  some  hall,  who  has  the  charge  of  hearing  the  lessons  of 
the  students,  and  otherwise  giving  them  instruction  in  the 
sciences  and  various  branches  of  learning. 

In  the  American  colleges,  tutors  are  graduates  selected  by 
the  trustees,  for  the  instruction  of  undergraduates  of  the 
first  three  years.  They  are  usually  officers  of  the  institu- 
tion, who  have  a  share,  with  the  president  and  professors,  in 
the  government  of  the  students.  —  Webster. 

TUTORIAL.  Belonging  to  or  exercised  by  a  tutor  or  in- 
structor. 

Even  while  he  is  engaged  in  his  '*  tutoriaV  duties,  &c.  —  Am. 
Lit.  Mag,,  Vol.  IV.  p.  409. 

TUTORIC.     Pertaining  to  a  tutor. 

A  collection  of  two  was  not  then  considered  a  sure  prognostic  of 
rebellion,  and  spied  out  vigilantly  by  iutoric  eyes.  —  Harvardiana, 
Vol.  III.  p.  314. 

TUTORING  FRESHMEN.  Of  the  various  means  used  by 
Sophomores  to  trouble  Freshmen,  that  of   tutoring  them,  as 


AND    CUSTOMS.  '  305 

described  in  the  following  extract  from  the  Sketches  of  Yale 
College,  is  not  at  all  peculiar  to  that  institution,  except  in  so 
far  as  the  name  is  concerned. 

"  The  ancient  customs  of  subordination  among  the  classes, 
though  long  since  abrogated,  still  preserve  a  part  of  their 
power  over  the  students,  not  only  of  this,  but  of  almost  every 
similar  institution.  The  recently  exalted  Sophomore,  the 
dignified  Junior,  and  the  venerable  Senior,  look  back  with 
equal  humor  at  the  'greenness'  of  their  first  year.  The 
former  of  these  classes,  however,  is  chiefly  notorious  in  the 
annals  of  Freshman  capers.  To  them  is  allotted  the  duty  of 
fumigating  the  room  of  the  new-comer,  and  preparing  him 
by  a  due  induction  into  the  mysteries  of  Yale  for  the  duties 
of  his  new  situation.  Of  these  performances,  the  most  sys- 
tematic is  commonly  styled  Tutoring^  from  the  character  as- 
sumed by  the  officiating  Sophomore.  Seated  solemnly  in 
his  chair  of  state,  arrayed  in  a  pompous  gown,  with  specs 
and  powdered  hair,  he  waits  the  approach  of  the  awe-struck 
subject,  who  has  been  duly  warned  to  attend  his  pleasure, 
and  fitly  instructed  to  make  a  low  reverence  and  stand 
speechless  until  addressed  by  his  illustrious  superior.  A  be- 
coming impression  has  also  been  conveyed  of  the  dignity, 
talents,  and  profound  learning  and  influence  into  the  congre- 
gated presence  of  which  he  is  summoned.  Every  thing,  in 
short,  which  can  increase  his  sufficiently  reverent  emotions, 
or  produce  a  readier  or  more  humble  obedience,  is  carefully 
set  forth,  till  he  is  prepared  to  approach  the  door  with  no 
little  degree  of  that  terror  with  which  the  superstitious  in- 
quirer enters  the  mystic  circle  of  the  magician.  A  shaded 
light  gleams  dimly  out  into  the  room,  and  pours  its  fuller 
radiance  upon  a  ponderous  volume  of  Hebrew  ;  a  huge  pile 
of  folios  rests  on  the  table,  and  the  eye  of  the  fearful  Fresh- 
man half  ventures  to  discover  that  they  are  tomes  of  the  dead 
languages. 

"  But  first  he  has,  in  obedience  to  his  careful  monitor, 
bowed  lowly  before  the  dignified  presence  ;  and,  hardly  rais- 
ing his  eyes,  he  stands  abashed  at  his  awful  situation,  waiting 
the  supreme  pleasure  of  the  supposed  officer.  A  benignant 
26  ♦ 


306  COLLEGE    WORDS 

smile  lights  up  the  tutor's  grave  countenance  ;  he  enters 
strangely  enough  into  familiar  talk  with  the  recently  admitted 
collegiate ;  in  pathetic  terms  he  describes  the  temptations  of 
this  great  city,  the  thousand  dangers  to  which  he  will  be  ex- 
posed, the  vortex  of  ruin  into  which,  if  he  walks  unwarily, 
he  will  be  surely  plunged.  He  fires  the  youthful  ambi- 
tion with  glowing  descriptions  of  the  honors  that  await  the 
successful,  and  opens  to  his  eager  view  the  dazzling  prospect 
of  college  fame.  Nor  does  he  fail  to  please  the  youthful  as- 
pirant with  assurances  of  the  kindly  notice  of  the  Faculty  ; 
he  informs  him  of  the  satisfactory  examination  he  has  passed, 
and  the  gratification  of  the  President  at  his  uncommon  pro- 
ficiency ;  and  having  thus  filled  the  buoyant  imagination  of 
his  dupe  with  the  most  glowing  college  air-castles,  dismisses 
him  from  his  august  presence,  after  having  given  him  espe- 
cial permission  to  call  on  any  important  occasion  hereafter." 
—  pp.  159  -  162. 

TUTORSHIP.     The  office  of  a  tutor.  —  Hooker, 

In  the  following  passage,  this  word  is  used  as  a  titulary 
compellation,  like  the  word  lordship. 

One  morning,  as  the  story  goes, 

Before  his  tutorship  arose.  —  RebelUad,  p.  73. 

TUTORS'  PASTURE.  In  1645,  John  Bulkley,  by  a  deed, 
gave  to  Mr.  Dunster,  the  President  of  Harvard  College,  two 
acres  of  land  in  Cambridge,  during  his  life.  The  deed  then 
proceeds  :  "  If  at  any  time  he  shall  leave  the  Presidency,  or 
shall  decease,  I  then  desire  the  College  to  appropriate  the 
same  to  itself  for  ever,  as  a  small  gift  from  an  alumnus, 
bearing  towards  it  the  greatest  good-will."  "  After  Presi- 
dent Dunster's  resignation,"  says  Quincy,  "  the  Corporation 
gave  the  income  of  Bulkley's  donation  to  the  tutors,  who  re- 
ceived it  for  many  years,  and  hence  the  inclosure  obtained 
the  name  of 'Tutors'  Pasture,'*  or  'Fellows'  Orchard,''"  In 
the  Donation  Book  of  the  College,  the  deed  is  introduced  as 
"  Extractum  Doni  Pomarii  Sociorum  per  Johannem  Bulk- 
leium." — Quincy's  Hist,  Harv,  TJniv.^  Vol.  I.  pp.  269,  270. 


AND   CUSTOMS.  307 

u. 

UGLY  KNIFE.     See  Jack-knife. 

UNDERGRADUATE.  A  student,  or  member  of  a  university 
or  college,  who  has  not  taken  his  first  degree.  —  Webster. 

UNDERGRADUATE.  Noting  or  pertaining  to  a  student  of 
a  college  who  has  not  taken  his  first  degree. 

The  undergraduate  students  shall  be  divided  into  four  distinct 
classes.  —  Laws  Yale  Coll.,  1837,  p.  11. 

With  these  the  undergraduate  course  is  not  intended  to  interfere. 
—  Yale  Coll.  Cat.,  1850-51,  p.  33. 

UNDERGRADUATESHIP.  The  state  of  being  an  under- 
graduate. —  Life  of  Foley, 

UNIVERSITY.  An  assemblage  of  colleges  established  in 
any  place,  with  professors  for  instructing  students  in  the 
sciences  and  other  branches  of  learning,  and  where  degrees 
are  conferred.  A  university  is  properly  a  universal  school, 
in  which  are  taught  all  branches  of  learning,  or  the  four 
faculties  of  theology,  medicine,  law,  and  the  sciences  and 
arts.  —  Cyclopcedia. 

UNIVERSITY.  At  Union  College,  a  name  given  to  a  uni- 
versity student.  The  regulation  in  reference  to  this  class  is 
as  follows  :  —  "  Students,  not  regular  members  of  college, 
are  allowed,  as  university  students,  to  prosecute  any  branches 
for  which  they  are  qualified,  provided  they  attend  three 
recitations  daily,  and  conform  in  all  other  respects  to  the 
laws  of  College.  On  leaving  College,  they  receive  certificates 
of  character  and  scholarship." —  Union  Coll.  Cat.^  1850. 

The  eyes  of  several  Freshmen  and  Universities  shone  with  a 
watery  lustre.  —  The  Parthenon^  Yol.  L  p.  20. 


308  COLLEGE    WORDS 


VACATION.  The  intermission  of  the  regular  studies  and  ex- 
ercises of  a  college  or  other  seminary,  when  the  students 
have  a  recess.  —  Webster. 

VALEDICTION.  A  farewell  ;  a  bidding  farewell.  Used 
sometimes  with  the  meaning  of  valedictory  or  valedictory 
oration. 

Two  publick  Orations,  by  the  Candidates  :  the  one  to  give  a 
specimen  of  their  Knowledge,  &c.,  and  the  other  to  give  a  grateful 
and  pathetick  Valediction  to  all  the  Officers  and  Members  of  the  So- 
ciety. —  Clap's  Hist.  Yale  Coll.,  p.  87. 

VALEDICTORIAN.  The  student  of  a  college  who  pro- 
nounces  the  valedictory  oration  at  the  annual  Commence- 
ment. —  Webster. 

VALEDICTORY.  In  American  colleges,  a  farewell  oration 
or  address  spoken  at  Commencement,  by  a  member  of  the 
class  which  receive  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  take 
their  leave  of  college  and  of  each  other. 

VARMINT.  At  Cambridge,  England,  and  also  among  the 
whip  gentry,  this  word  signifies  natty,  spruce,  dashing ;  e.  g. 
he  is  quite  varmint ;  he  sports  a  varmint  hat,  coat,  &c. 

A  varmint  man  spurns  a  scholarship,  would  consider  it  a  degra- 
dation to  be  a  fellow.  —  Gradus  ad  Cantab.,  p.  122. 

The  handsome  man,  my  friend  and  pupil,  was  naturally  enough  a 
bit  of  a  swell,  or  varmint  man.  — Alma  Mater,  Vol.  II.  p.  118. 

VICE-CHANCELLOR.  An  officer  in  a  university,  in  Eng- 
land, a  distinguished  member,  who  is  annually  elected  to 
manage  the  affairs  in  the  absence  of  the  Chancellor.  He 
must  be  the  head  of  a  college,  and  during  his  continuance 
in  office,  he  acts  as  a  magistrate  for  the  university,  town,  and 
county.  —  Cam.  Cal. 

VISITATION.  The  act  of  a  superior  or  superintending  offi- 
cer, who  visits  a  corporation,  college,  church,  or  other  house, 
to  examine  into  the  manner  in  which  it  is  conducted,  and  see 


AND   CUSTOMS.  309 

that  its  laws  and  regulations  are  duly  observed  and  exe- 
cuted. —  Cyc, 

In  July,  1766,  a  law  was  formally  enacted,  "  that  twice  in  the 
year,  viz.  at  the  semiannual  visitation  of  the  committee  of  the 
Overseers,  some  of  the  scholars,  at  the  direction  of  the  President 
and  Tutors,  shall  publicly  exhibit  specimens  of  their  proficiency," 
&c. —  Quincy''s  Hist,  Harv.  Univ.,  Vol.  II.  p.  132. 


WARDEN.  The  master  or  president  of  a  college.  —  Eng- 
land, 

WARNING.  In  many  colleges,  when  it  is  ascertained  that  a 
student  is  not  living  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  insti- 
tution, he  is  usually  informed  of  the  fact  by  a  warnings  as  it 
is  called,  from  one  of  the  faculty,  which  consists  merely  of 
friendly  caution  and  advice,  thus  giving  him  an  opportunity, 
by  correcting  his  faults,  to  escape  punishment. 

Sadly  I  feel  I  should  have  been  saved  by  numerous  warnings, 

Harvardiana,  Vol.  III.  p.  98. 
No  more  shall  "  learnings  "  in  their  hearing  ring. 
Nor  "  admonitions  "  haunt  their  aching  head. 

Yale  Lit.  Mag.,  Vol.  XV.  p.  210. 

WHINNICK.  At  Hamilton  College,  to  refuse  to  fulfil  a 
promise  or  engagement ;  to  retreat  from  a  difficulty  ;  to  back 
out. 

WIGS.  The  custom  of  wearing  wigs  was,  perhaps,  observed 
nowhere  in  America  during  the  last  century  with  so  much 
particularity  as  at  the  older  colleges.  Of  this  the  following 
incident  is  illustrative.  Mr.  Joseph  Palmer,  who  graduated 
at  Harvard  in  the  year  1747,  entered  college  at  the  age  of 
fourteen ;  but,  although  so  young,  was  required  immediately 
after  admission  to  cut  off  his  long,  flowing  hair,  and  to  cover 


310  COLLEGE    WORDS 

his  head  with  an  unsightly  bag-wig.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century  wigs  were  not  wholly  discarded,  although 
the  fashion  of  wearing  the  hair  in  a  queue  was  more  in 
vogue.  From  a  record  of  curious  facts,  it  appears  that  the 
last  wig  which  appeared  at  Commencement  in  Harvard 
College  was  worn  by  Mr.  John  Marsh,  in  the  year  1819. 
See  Dress. 

WINE.     To  drink  wine. 

After  **  wining  "  to  a  certain  extent,  —  we  sallied  forth  from  his 
rooms.  —  Alma  Mater,  Vol.  T.  p.  14. 

Hither  they  repair  each  day  after  dinner  "  to  wine,^^ 

Ibid.,  Vol.  I.  p.  95. 
After  dinner,  I  had  the  honor  of  if;mm^with  no  less  a  personage 
than  a  fellow  of  the  college.  — Ibid.,  Vol.  I.  p.  114. 

WIRE.  At  Harvard  College,  a  trick  ;  an  artifice  ;  a  strata- 
gem ;  a  dodge. 

WIRY.     Trickish;  artful. 

WITENAGEMOTE.  (Saxon,  witan,  to  know,  and  gemot,  a 
meeting,  a  council.) 

In  the  University  of  Oxford,  the  weekly  meeting  of  the 
heads  of  the  colleges.  —  Oxford  Guide, 

WOODEN  SPOON.  In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng- 
land, the  scholar  whose  name  stands  last  of  all  on  the  printed 
list  of  honors  at  the  Bachelors'  Commencement  in  January, 
is  scoffingly  said  to  gain  the  wooden  spoon.  He  is  also  very 
currently  himself  called  the  wooden  spoon* 

A  young  academic  coming  into  the  country  immediately  after  this 
great  competition,  in  which  he  had  conspicuously  distinguished  him- 
self, was  asked  by  a  plain  country  gentleman,  *'  Pray,  Sir,  is  my 
Jack  a  wrangler?"  "No,  Sir."  Now  Jack  had  confidently 
pledged  himself  to  his  uncle  that  he  would  take  his  degree  with 
honor.  "  A  senior  optime?  "  **  No,  Sir."  "  Why,  what  was  he 
then  1  "  **  Wooden  spoon  !  "  *'  Best  suited  to  his  wooden  head," 
said  the  mortified  inquirer.  —  Forby's  Vocabulary/,  Vol.  II.  p.  253. 

It  may  not  perhaps  be  improper  to  mention  one  very  remarkable 
personage,  I  mean  "The  Wooden  Spoon.''  This  luckless  wight 
(for  what  cause  I  know  not)  is  annually  the  universal  butt  and 
laughing-stock  of  the  whole  Senate-House.    He  is  the  last  of  those 


AND    CUSTOMS.  Sll 

young  men  who  take  honors,  in  his  year,  and  is  called  a  junior 
optime  ;  yet,  notwithstanding  his  being  in  fact  superior  to  them  all, 
the  very  lowest  of  the  oi  ttoXXoi,  or  gregarious  undistinguished 
bachelors,  think  themselves  entitled  to  shoot  the  pointless  arrows  of 
their  clumsy  wit  against  the  ivooden  spoon ;  and  to  reiterate  the  stale 
and  perennial  remark,  that  *'  wranglers  are  born  with  gold  spoons 
in  their  mouths,  senior  optimes  with  silver,  junior  optimes  with 
wooden,  and  the  ol  ttoWol  with  leaden  ones." — Gent.  Mag., 
1795,  p.  19. 

2.  At  Yale  College,  this  title  is  conferred  on  the  student 
who  takes  the  last  appointment  at  Commencement.  The 
following  account  of  the  ceremonies  incident  to  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  Wooden  Spoon  has  been  kindly  furnished 
by  a  graduate  of  that  institution. 

"  At  Yale  College  the  honors,  or,  as  they  are  there  termed, 
apf^ointments,  are  given  to  a  class  twice  during  the  course  ; 
—  upon  the  merits  of  the  two  preceding  years,  at  the  end  of 
the  first  term,  Junior  ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  second  term, 
Senior,  upon  the  merits  of  the  whole  college  course.  There 
are  about  eight  grades  of  appointments,  the  lowest  of  which 
is  the  Third  Colloquy.  Each  grade  has  its  own  standard, 
and  if  a  number  of  students  have  attained  to  the  same  de- 
gree, they  receive  the  same  appointment.  It  is  rarely  the 
case,  however,  that  more  than  one  student  can  claim  the  dis- 
tinction of  a  third  colloquy,  but  when  there  are  several,  they 
draw  lots  to  see  which  is  entitled  to  be  considered  properly 
the  third  colloquy  man. 

"  After  the  Junior  appointments  are  awarded,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Junior  Class  hold  an  exhibition  similar  to  the 
regular  Junior  exhibition,  and  present  a  wooden  spoon  to  the 
man  who  received  the  lowest  honor  in  the  gift  of  the 
faculty. 

"  The  exhibition  takes  place  in  the  evening  at  some  pub- 
lic hall  in  town.  Except  to  those  engaged  in  the  arrange- 
ments, nothing  is  known  about  it  among  the  students  at 
large,  until  the  evening  of  the  performances,  when  notices 
of  the  hour  and  place  are  quietly  circulated  at  prayers,  in 
order  that  it  may  not  reach  the  ears  of  the  faculty,  who  are 
ever  too  ready  to  participate  in  the  sports  of  the  students, 


312  COLLEGE   WORDS 

and  to  make  the  result  tell  unfavorably  against  the  college 
welfare  of  the  more  prominent  characters. 

"  As  the  appointed  hour  approaches,  long  files  of  black 
coats  may  be  seen  emerging  from  the  dark  halls,  and  wind- 
ing their  way  through  the  classic  elms  towards  the  Temple, 
the  favorite  scene  of  students'  exhibitions  and  secret  festivals. 
When  they  reach  the  door,  each  man  must  undergo  the 
searching  scrutiny  of  the  door-keeper,  usually  disguised  as 
an  Indian,  to  avoid  being  recognized  by  a  college  officer, 
should  one  chance  to  be  in  the  crowd,  and  no  one  is  allowed 
to  enter  unless  he  is  known. 

"By  the  time  the  hour  of  the  exercises  has  arrived,  the 
hall  is  densely  packed  with  undergraduates  and  professional 
students.  The  President,  who  is  a  non-appointment  man,  and 
probably  the  poorest  scholar  in  the  class,  sits  on  a  stage  with 
his  associate  professors.  Appropriate  programmes,  printed 
in  the  College  style,  are  scattered  throughout  the  house.  As 
the  hour  strikes,  the  President  rises  with  becoming  dignity, 
and,  instead  of  the  usual  phrase,  '  musicam  audeamus,'  re- 
stores order  among  the  audience  by  '  silentiam  audeamus,' 
aad  then  addresses  the  band,  '  Musica  cantetur.' 

"  Then  follow  a  series  of  burlesque  orations,  dissertations, 
and  disputes,  upon  scientific  and  other  subjects,  from  the 
wittiest  and  cleverest  men  in  the  class,  and  the  house  is  kept 
in  a  continual  roar  of  laughter.  The  highest  appointment 
men  frequently  take  part  in  the  speeches.  From  time  to 
time  the  band  plays,  and  the  College  choir  sing  pieces  com- 
posed for  the  occasion.  In  one  of  the  best,  called  Audacia, 
composed  in  imitation  of  the  Crambambuli  song,  by  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  to  which  the  writer  belonged,  the  Wooden 
Spoon  is  referred  to  in  the  following  stanza  :  — 
'  But  do  not  think  our  life  is  aimless ; 

O,  no  !  we  crave  one  blessed  boon, 
It  is  the  prize  of  value  nameless, 

The  honored,  classic  Wooden  Spoon  ; 
But  give  us  this,  we'  11  shout  Hurrah  I 
O,  nothing  like  Audacia !  ' 

"  After  the  speeches  are  concluded  and  the  music  has 


AND  CUSTOMS.  313 

ceased,  the  President  rises  and  calls  the  name  of  the  hero  of 
the  evening,  who  ascends  the  stage  and  stands  before  the 
high  dignitary.  The  President  then  congratulates  him  upon 
having  attained  to  so  eminent  a  position,  and  speaks  of  the 
pride  that  he  and  his  associates  feel  in  conferring  upon  him 
the  highest  honor  in  their  gift,  —  The  Wooden  Spoon.  He 
exhorts  him  to  pursue  through  life  the  noble  cruise  he  has 
commenced  in  College,  —  not  seeking  glory  as  one  of  the 
illiterate,  —  the  ol  ttoXXoi,  —  nor  exactly  on  the  fence,  but  so 
near  to  it  that  he  may  safely  be  said  to  have  gained  the 
'  happy  medium.' 

"  The  President  then  proceeds  to  the  grand  ceremony  of 
the  evening,  —  the  delivery  of  the  Wooden  Spoon,  —  a 
handsomely  finished  spoon,  or  ladle,  with  a  long  handle,  on 
which  is  carved  the  name  of  the  Class,  and  the  rank  and 
honor  of  the  recipient,  and  the  date  of  its  presentation. 
The  President  confers  the  honor  in  Latin,  provided  he  and 
his  associates  are  able  to  muster  a  sufficient  number  of  sen- 
tences. 

"  When  the  President  resumes  his  seat,  the  Third  Collo- 
quy man  thanks  his  eminent  instructors  for  the  honor  con- 
ferred upon  him,  and  thanks  (often  with  sincerity)  the  class 
for  the  distinction  he  enjoys.  The  exercises  close  with 
music  by  the  band,  or  a  burlesque  colloquy.  On  one  occa- 
sion, the  colloquy  was  announced  upon  the  programme  as 
'  A  Practical  Illustration  of  Humbugging,''  with  a  long  list  of 
very  witty  men  as  speakers,  to  appear  in  original  costumes. 
Curiosity  was  very  much  excited,  and  expectation  on  the 
tiptoe,  when  the  colloquy  became  due.  The  audience 
waited  and  waited  until  sufficiently  humbugged,  when  they 
were  allowed  to  retire  with  the  laugh  turned  against  them. 

"  Many  men  prefer  the  Wooden  Spoon  to  any  other  col- 
lege honor  or  prize,  because  it  comes  directly  from  their 
classmates,  and  hence,  perhaps,  the  Faculty  disapprove  of 
it,  considering  it  as  a  damper  to  ambition  and  college  dis- 
tinctions." 

WRANGLER.     In  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Eng.,  the 
27 


314  COLLEGE    WORDS 

Senior  Wrangler  is  the  student  who  passes  the  best  exami- 
nation in  the  Senate-House.     Then  follow  the  second^  thirds 
&;c.,  wranglers. —  Webster, 
See  PoLLOi. 

WRESTLING-MATCH.     At  Harvard  College,  it  was  former- 

ly  the  custom,  on  the  first  Monday  of  the  term  succeeding  the 
Commencement  vacation,  for  the  Sophomores  to  challenge 
the  Freshmen  who  had  just  entered  College  to  a  wrestling- 
match.  A  writer  in  the  New  England  Magazine,  1832,  in 
an  article  entitled  "  Harvard  College  Forty  Years  Ago,"  re- 
marks as  follows  on  this  subject  :  "  Another  custom,  not 
enjoined  by  the  government,  had  been  in  vogue  from  time 
immemorial.  That  was  for  the  Sophomores  to  challenge 
the  Freshmen  to  a  wrestling-match.  If  the  Sophomores 
w^ere  thrown,  the  Juniors  gave  a  similar  challenge.  If  these 
were  conquered,  the  Seniors  entered  the  lists,  or  treated  the 
victors  to  as  much  wine,  punch,  &c.,  as  they  chose  to  drink. 
In  my  class,  there  were  few  who  had  either  taste,  skill,  or 
bodily  strength  for  this  exercise,  so  that  we  were  easily  laid 
on  our  backs,  and  the  Sophomores  were  acknowledged  our 
superiors,  in  so  far  as  '  brute  force  '  was  concerned.  Being 
disgusted  with  these  customs,  we  held  a  class-meeting,  early 
in  our  first  quarter,  and  voted  unanimously  that  we  should 
never  send  a  Freshman  on  an  errand  ;  and,  with  but  one  dis- 
senting voice,  that  we  would  not  challenge  the  next  class  that 
should  enter  to  wrestle.  When  the  latter  vote  was  passed, 
our  moderator,  pointing  at  the  dissenting  individual  with  the 
finger  of  scorn,  declared  it  to  be  a  vote,  nemine  contradi- 
cenle.  We  commenced  Sophomores,  another  Freshman 
Class  entered,  the  Juniors  challenged  them,  and  were  thrown. 
The  Seniors  invited  them  to  a  treat,  and  these  barbarous  cus- 
toms were  soon  after  abolished."  —  Vol.  III.  p.  239. 

The  Freshman  Class  above  referred  to,  as  superior  to  the 
Junior,  was  the  one  which  graduated  in  1796,  of  which  Mr. 
Thomas  Mason,  surnamed  "  the  College  Lion,"  was  a  mem- 
ber, "  said,"  remarks  Mr.  Buckingham,  "  to  be  the  greatest 
wrestler  that  was  ever  in  College.    He  was  settled  as  a  cler- 


AND   CUSTOMS.  315 

gyman  at  Northfield,  Mass.,  resigned  his  office  some  years 
after,  and  several  times  represented  that  town  in  the  Legis- 
ture  of  Massachusetts."  Charles  Prentiss,  the  wit  of  the 
Class  of  '95,  in  a  will  written  on  his  departure  from  College 
life,  addresses  Mason  as  follows  :  — 

"Item.     Tom  M n,  College  Lion, 

Who  'd  ne'er  spend  cash  enough  to  buy  one, 

The  Boanerges  of  a  pun, 

A  man  of  science  and  of  fun, 

That  quite  uncommon  witty  elf, 

Who  darts  his  bolts  and  shoots  himself. 

Who  oft  has  bled  beneath  my  jokes, 

I  give  my  old  tobacco-bo x.^'^ 

Buckingham's  Reminiscences,  Vol.  II.  p.  271. 

The  fame  which  Mr.  Mason  had  acquired  while  in  College 
for  bodily  strength  and  skill  in  wrestling,  did  not  desert  him 
after  he  left.  While  settled  as  a  minister  at  Northfield,  a 
party  of  young  men  from  Vermont  challenged  the  young 
men  of  that  town  to  a  bout  at  wrestling.  The  challenge 
was  accepted,  and  on  a  given  day  the  two  parties  assembled 
at  Northfield.  After  several  rounds,  when  it  began  to  ap- 
pear that  the  Vermonters  were  gaining  the  advantage,  a 
proposal  was  made,  by  some  who  had  heard  of  Mr.  Mason's 
exploits,  that  he  should  be  requested  to  take  part  in  the  con- 
test. It  had  now  grown  late,  and  the  minister,  who  usually 
retired  early,  had  already  betaken  himself  to  bed.  Being 
informed  of  the  request  of  the  wrestlers,  for  a  long  time  he 
refused  to  go,  alleging  as  reasons  his  ministerial  capacity, 
the  force  of  example,  &c.  Finding  these  excuses  of  no 
avail,  he  finally  arose,  dressed  himself,  and  repaired  to  the 
scene  of  action.  Shouts  greeted  him  on  his  arrival,  and  he 
found  himself  on  the  wrestling-field,  as  he  had  stood  years 
ago  at  Cambridge.  The  champion  of  the  Vermonters  came 
forward,  flushed  with  his  former  victories.  After  playing 
around  him  for  some  time,  Mr.  Mason  finally  threw  him. 
Having  by  this  time  collected  his  ideas  of  the  game,  when 
another  antagonist  appeared,  tripping  up  his  heels  with  per- 
fect ease,  he  suddenly  twitched  him  off  his  centre  and  laid 


316  COLLEGE    WORDS    AND    CUSTOMS. 

him  on  his  back.     Victory  w£is  declared  in  favor  of  North- 
field,  and  the  good  minister  was  borne  home  in  triumph. 


Y. 

YAGER  FIGHTS.  At  Bowdoin  College,  "  Yager  fights;' 
says  a  correspondent,  "  are  the  annual  conflicts  which  occur 
between  the  townsmen  and  the  students.  The  Yagers  (from 
the  German  Sdgcr,  a  hunter,  a  chaser)  were  accustomed, 
when  the  lumbermen  came  down  the  river  in  the  spring,  to 
assemble  in  force,  march  up  to  the  College  yard  with  Mq 
and  drum,  get  famously  drubbed,  and  retreat  in  confusion  to 
their  dens.  The  custom  has  become  extinct  within  the  past 
four  years,  in  consequence  of  the  non-appearance  of  the 
Yagers." 

YOUNG  BURSCH.  In  the  German  universities,  a  name 
given  to  a  student  during  his  third  term,  or  semester. 


APPENDIX. 


ANNARUGIANS.  At  Centre  College,  Kentucky,  is  a  society 
called  the  Annarugians,  "  composed,"  says  a  correspondent, 
"  of  the  wildest  of  the  College  boys,  who,  in  the  most  fantastic 
disguises,  are  always  on  hand  when  a  wedding  is  to  take 
place,  and  join  in  a  most  tremendous  Charivari,  nor  can  they 
be  forced  to  retreat  until  they  have  received  a  due  proportion 
of  the  sumptuous  feast  prepared." 

BARRING-OUT  SPREE.  At  Princeton  College,  when  the 
students  find  the  North  College  clear  of  Tutors,  which  is 
about  once  a  year,  they  bar  up  the  entrance,  get  access  to 
the  bell,  and  ring  it. 

FRESHMAN  SERVITUDE.  Since  the  account  on  page 
138  was  written,  a  friend  has  kind4y  furnished  the  editor 
with  a  copy  of  the  customs  of  Harvard  College,  which  bears 
date  September,  1741.  It  is  entitled,  "The  Customs  of 
Harvard  College,  which  if  the  Freshmen  don't  ob- 
serve   AND   OBEY,    THEY   SHALL   BE    SEVERELY    PUNISHED    IF 

they  HAVE  HEARD  THEM  READ."     They  are  as  follows  :  — 

"1.  No  Freshman  shall  wear  his  hat  in  the  College  yard,  except 
it  rains,  hails,  or  snows,  he  be  on  horseback,  or  hath  both  hands 
fuU. 


318  APPENDIX. 

**  2.  No  Freshman  shall  pass  by  his  Senior,*  without  pulling  his 
hat  off. 

**  3.  No  Freshman  shall  be  saucy  to  his  Senior,  or  speak  to  him 
with  his  hat  on. 

"  4.  No  Freshman  shall  laugh  in  his  Senior's  face. 

"  5.  No  Freshman  shall  ask  his  Senior  any  impertinent  ques- 
tion. 

"6.  No  Freshman  shall  intrude  into  his  Senior's  company. 

"  7.  Freshmen  are  to  take  notice  that  a  Senior  Sophister  can  take 
a  Freshman  from  a  Sophimore,t  a  Master  from  a  Senior  Sophister, 
and  a  Fellow  J  from  a  Master. 

*'  8.  When  a  Freshman  is  sent  of  an  errand,  he  shall  not  loiter 
by  the  way,  but  shall  make  haste,  and  give  a  direct  answer  if  asked 
who  he  is  going  for. 

"  9.  No  Freshman  shall  tell  who  he  is  a  going  for  (unless  asked), 
or  what  he  is  a  going  for,  unless  asked  by  a  Fellow. 

"  10.  No  Freshman,  when  he  is  going  of  errands,  shall  go  away, 
except  he  be  dismissed,  which  is  known  by  saying,  'It  is  well,' 
'  You  may  go,'  *  I  thank  you,'  or  the  like. 

**  11.  Freshmen  are  to  find  the  rest  of  the  scholars  with  bats, 
balls,  and  footballs. § 

"  12.  Freshmen  shall  pay  three  shillings  to  the  Butler  to  have 
their  names  set  up  in  the  Buttery. 

"  13.  No  Freshman  shall  wear  his  hat  in  his  Senior's  chambers, 
nor  in  his  own,  if  his  Senior  be  there. 

"  14.  When  anybody  knocks  at  a  Freshman's  door,  he  shall  not 
ask  who  is  there,  but  immediately  open  the  door. 

'*15.  When  a  Freshman  knocks  at  his  Senior's  door,  he^shall 
tell  his  name  immediately. 

"16.  No  Freshman  shall  call  his  classmate  by  the  name  of 
Freshman. 

"  17.  No  Freshman  shall  call  up  or  down,  to  or  from  his  Senior's 
chamber  or  his  own. 


*  Senior,  in  this  article,  indicates  an  officer  of  college,  or  a  member 
of  either  of  the  three  upper  classes, 
t  See  Sophomore. 
t  i.  e.  Tutor. 
§  The  law  in  reference  to  footballs  is  still  observed. 


APPENDIX.  319 

"  18.  No  Freshman  shall  call  or  throw  any  thing  across  the  Col- 
lege yard,  nor  go  into  the  Fellows'  Cuz-John.* 

"  19.  No  Freshman  shall  mingo  against  the  College  walls. 

"20.  Freshmen  are  to  carry  themselves,  in  all  respects,  as  to  be 
in  no  wise  saucy  to  their  seniors. 

"21.  Whatsoever  Freshman  shall  break  any  of  these  customs, 
he  shall  be  severely  punished." 

*  Abbreviated  for  Cousin  John,  i.  e.  a  privy. 


THE   END. 


RETURN     CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

TO^^     202  Main  Library 


LOAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

1.mon<h  loans  may  be  renewed  by  eallino  842-3408 


DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


JAN  0  7  ZOpZ 


IST^W 


RECEIVED  BV 


MAY  ^  Q  1985 


OBK 


FORM  NO.  DD6,  60m, 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 

1/83  BERKELEY,  CA  94720 

(g)$ 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  -  U.C.  BERKELEY 

II 


B0Q07btiMS7 


j  0438b 


K. 


^  6"  ^/^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


♦«$  M 


